Article Un/veiling Women’s Bodies: Secularism and Sexuality in Full-face Veil Prohibitions in France and Qu´ ebec Jennifer A Selby Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada Abstract: Heated discussion in the media, costly and laborious government commis- sions, and restrictive legal recommendations in France and Qu´ ebec, Canada, have recently focused on the undesirability of face-covering veils (burqas and niqabs) in the public sphere. This article charts how these sites have, at the same time, concretized a contrasting idealized presentation of a desirable secular female body. This examination is grounded in recent Secularism Studies scholarship that argues that, like forms of reli- giosity, secularisms include a range of social and physical dispositions (Warner, 2008; see also Asad, 2003; Calhoun et al., 2011; Fadil, 2011; Jakobsen and Pellegrini, 2008; Mahmood, 2009). Through consideration of two recent niqab-wearing women’s cases outside of Paris and in Montr´ eal, and with reference to theories of governmentality (Fassin, 2010; Foucault, 1980, 1988; Gu´ enif-Souilamas, 2006) and to Joan Wallach Scott on seduction (2011), I examine the regulatory functions and normalizing delineations of female sexuality within restrictions against full-face hijabs. R´ esum ´ e: Le voile int´ egral est le sujet de vives discussions dans les m´ edias, de com- missions gouvernementales cou ˆ teuses et de recommandations juridiques restrictives en France et au Qu´ ebec. Cet article examine comment ces d´ ebats ont, en me ˆme temps, g´ en´ er´ e une image id´ ealis´ ee et contrast´ ee d’un corps f´ eminin d´ esirable et la¨ ıque. Cet argument fait suite aux discussions acad´ emiques soutenant que, comme diff´ erentes formes de religiosit´ e, les la¨ ıcit´ es incluent aussi une s´ erie de dispositions sociales et physiques (Warner, 2008; voir aussi, Asad, 2003; Calhoun et al., 2011; Fadil, 2011; Corresponding author / Adresse de correspondance : Jennifer A. Selby, Department of Religious Studies, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John’s, NF Canada. Email: jselby@mun.ca Studies in Religion / Sciences Religieuses 2014, Vol. 43(3) 439–466 ª The Author(s) / Le(s) auteur(s), 2014 Reprints and permission/ Reproduction et permission: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0008429814526150 sr.sagepub.com