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Brigitte Macron has caused outrage after describing feminist activists as “stupid bitches” in a leaked video.
So what? This is about more than France’s first lady. Macron’s description of protesters who disrupted a show at the Folies Bergère in Paris has offended on many levels, with
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shock at her language;
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outrage at the sexism inherent in the remark; and
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dismay that France’s failure to grasp #MeToo extends to the highest level of state.
Pardon my French. The target of Macron’s anger was a group of demonstrators who had heckled Ary Abittan, a comedian and actor previously accused of rape. Last year magistrates stopped investigating Abittan due to a lack of evidence. Macron made the comment while she was talking to the performer before he went on stage.
Split opinion. While protesters see the use of the phrase, sales connes, as more evidence of the impunity enjoyed by men in the film, theatre and TV industries, critics of #MeToo have dismissed it as imported “Anglo-Saxon” puritanism.
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Plus ça change. France has long treated its male stars as demi-gods whose alleged behaviour can be excused in the name of art. Geneviève Sellier, professor of film studies in Bordeaux, says a “cult of the auteur” views men who are considered artistic geniuses as “above the law”.
Case in point. It was only this year, eight years after the dawn of the #MeToo movement in the US, that Gérard Depardieu, a titan of French cinema and subject of a dozen complaints of sexual assault including rape, was found guilty of assaulting two women.
Conspiracy of silence. Julie Godrèche, an actor who has accused two directors of raping her, told last year’s César awards there was an “omerta” protecting French film industry figures.
She is not alone. Adèle Haenel, another actor, stormed out of the 2020 Césars after Roman Polanski was given the best director award. Polanski is wanted in the US for the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl in the 1970s. Earlier this year, director Christophe Ruggia was convicted of sexually assaulting Haenel when she was between 12 and 15.
Denials. All the French men in the above cases have denied the accusations against them. Depardieu has said: “I’m vulgar, rude, foul-mouthed, I’ll accept that … but I don’t touch.”
Strength of feeling. Sisterly solidarity is in short supply. Film icon Catherine Deneuve was among 100 women who signed a 2018 open letter claiming #MeToo was hampering men’s right to “pester” women.
Protect Gerard. Brigitte Bardot, the 1960s siren, has defended Depardieu. As has Emmanuel Macron who said the actor was the victim of a “manhunt”. Both did so ahead of Depardieu’s conviction, which he is appealing.
Back to the other Brigitte. Known for her discretion, Brigitte Macron’s comment was clearly intended to be private. But it was her second public gaffe this year after le slap in June when her hand made contact with her husband’s face.
The defence. A statement from Macron’s Elysée office said that she wanted to calm the star of the show’s nerves and was not “attacking a cause”. At the same time it admitted she disapproved of the “radical methods” of the protesters.
Last word... Many others, including the Socialist former president François Hollande, were more concerned with the “vulgarity” of the comment, which was hashtagged by the feminists it targeted. #Jesuisunesaleconne quickly went viral.
Photograph by Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images