It's 2016, so of course someone has capitalised on the ongoing burkini-gate with a social experiment.
If you haven't seen any social experiments they typically involve a "victim" of society being bullied in one way or another by an "oppressor". I quote those two words, because in conclusion, both people are outed as actors. 'It's OK, it's OK!' they say, calming down infuriated members of the public. 'It's just a social experiment!'
If you hadn't already caught wind with the tone of this article so far, I don't like social experiments. I think they're dumb, reactionary and exploitive.
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But this particular one is doing the rounds because it's time-relevant.
It follows last week's publication of images showing armed French authorities in Nice making a Muslim female beach-goer remove her burkini.
Popular YouTuber's 'Trollstation' have now staged their own beach confrontation in England.
It's a simple set-up: an actress plays the role of a burkini-wearing young Muslim approached by a policeman who makes his case with one-liners like 'You're not allowed to wear [the burkini] at the beach. You look like a terrorist' and 'You're wearing it because you're oppressed,' which is definitely the type of rhetoric French police used in Nice...
The back-and-forth is eventually intervened by two women who criticise the copper for discriminating against the woman on a purely religious basis. Many others come to the woman's aid.
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It's quickly broken up. The actress tells everyone it's just a social experiment. Some witnesses laugh in relief, while others, still agitated, walk off unimpressed.
I can see their frustration. This is obviously a serious social debate and these fuckwits are using it to mock members of the public.
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