Summary
Do French women really think differently about sexual harassment - and if so, does feminism have national borders?
Catherine Deneuve was one of 100 prominent women who signed an open letter to Le Monde critiquing the #metoo movement.
"We believe that the freedom to say yes to a sexual proposition cannot exist without the freedom to pester," they wrote.
Have the French mastered a more sophisticated approach to relations between men and women, based around seduction - or is this a myth that sustains male power?
Parisian journalist Catherine Guilyardi investigates.
Producer: Estelle Doyle
Contributors:
Claude Habib - historian and author of "Galanterie francaise"
Elaine Sciolino - ex New York Times Paris bureau chief and author of "La Seduction" and "Rue des Martyrs"
Eric Fassin - professor of sociology, Paris-8 University
Sylvie Kauffman - editorial director and columnist at Le Monde
Sandra Muller - journalist and founder of #balancetonporc
Cécile Fara and Julie Marangé - feminist activists, organisers of the Street Art and Feminism tour in Paris
Fatima El Ouasdi - feminist activist and founder of Politiqu'elles
Peggy Sastre - philosopher of science and author of "Male Domination Doesn't Exist".
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.6 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.4 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable |
| 0:14.3 | experts and genuinely engaging voices. What you may not know is that the BBC |
| 0:20.4 | makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.0 | Welcome to Analysis, the programme about the ideas behind the news agenda. |
| 0:41.0 | I know you've missed us, so thanks for waiting. Women across much of the world |
| 0:45.5 | have been protesting against sexual harassment, but there are dissenting voices, |
| 0:49.8 | notably in France. Perisian journalist Catherine Gileadi asks if feminism looks different if you're French. |
| 0:58.0 | Earlier this year, as women reacted to revelations about Harvey Weinstein |
| 1:05.7 | hundreds of thousands said me too but not everyone thought the same way. |
| 1:10.7 | 100 women signed a dramatic open letter voicing their concerns |
| 1:15.8 | about the Meiju movement. As women we don't recognize ourselves in this feminism |
| 1:21.2 | that beyond the denunciation of abuses of power takes the face of the |
| 1:26.2 | hatred of men and sexuality. |
| 1:29.1 | The women who signed the letter were mostly French. |
| 1:32.2 | The actress Catherine de Nove was among them as they |
| 1:34.8 | warned that the legacy of the sexual revolution was under threat and defended |
| 1:39.2 | what they called the freedom to pester. We believe that the freedom to say yes to a sexual proposition |
| 1:46.0 | cannot exist without the freedom to pester. And we consider that one must respond to this freedom to Pesta in other ways than the role of the prey. |
... |
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