For them, having such women as part of the North American landscape is frightening. Thus, various school boards in Quebec have decided that rooting out the unwanted influence at the earliest point possible is the best way to avoid contaminating their haute culture. I have often wondered why a woman in hijab participating freely in this society is perceived as so threatening. I have always thought that fear of such women was unfounded. But now I realize the fear is legitimate.
Muslim women are a threat.
Any woman who refuses to play the gender games that are so basic to all societies is going to be pushed out. Women have always been expected to play some kind of role in every society. In North America, a great part of this role revolves around sex and the aura of sexuality. Any relationship involving men and women has some kind of sexual undertone. When a woman covers herself she is rejecting that role, she is saying sex will have nothing to do with her public life.