French lawmaker docked one-quarter of his monthly parliamentary salary for sexist behaviour...

[Surya Gayatri]

http://josephbamat.blogs.france24.com/article/2013/10/10/france-government-sexism-national-assembly-clucking-mp-ump-massonnea



This week conservative French lawmaker Phillipe Le Ray was docked one-quarter of his monthly parliamentary salary for clucking like a chicken while Green Party MP Véronique Massonneau addressed the National Assembly on the subject of reforming France’s pensions system.

Sadly, it was not an isolated sexist episode by a rogue UMP lawmaker.

It was just the latest outburst that has made France’s National Assembly appear more like a construction worksite than le peuple’s repository of liberty, equality and fraternity.

In July 2012, Housing Minister Cécile Duflot became the target of hooting by conservative MPs as she took the microphone to answer questions about a Paris infrastructure project wearing, get this… a floral dress. The completely unassuming garment sparked a surprising chorus of cat-calls and whistling.

Read more:
http://josephbamat.blogs.france24.com/article/2013/10/10/france-government-sexism-national-assembly-clucking-mp-ump-massonnea

France is taking sexism more and more seriously as a social and economic issue. They're beginning to put their money where their mouth is. Attitudes have changed radically since I first moved to France 30+ years ago.

Pouvoir aux femmes !!

[seabeyond]

1. interesting dichotomy. many will say europe is all over the u.s. with womens issues. yes. and no.

they are much more miogynist than the u.s. yet they are more advanced in the legal issues of rights... in ways. i see it that they have human rights more progressive. yet they very much live in the macho/patriarchy world, beyond the u.s.

so yes, it is good to see men financially slapped in the face for this behavior.

it was during dks rape trial that i really saw how far behind france was in the treatment of women as a sex commodity. women have to wear wedding rings to work to try to avoid some of the blatant misogyny in a work environment that they are expected to endure.

but then, there will be those on this board that insist that they are sexually progressive and the women LOVE it. see u.s. women, why arent you more like the french, taking this crap from men.

[Surya Gayatri]

2. As a rule, educated French women don't take crap from anybody nowadays.

They may not be as strident in their feminism as American women, but they are getting more and more results.

The DSK business was a bit of an historical anomaly. DSK was a high-profile, long-standing political figure with many hopes and expectations riding on his career. His spectacular downfall brought out the worst from many quarters.

As for wearing wedding bands to work, I've had unmarried women as my students for 30+ years and have never known one who did that. However, if they are divorced or widowed, they often continue to wear a ring.

[redqueen]

3. There was a lot of discussion of misogyny in France after that incident.

Also after the gang rapes became big news. Perhaps the disconnect is how life is experienced by educated women, as opposed to maids and teenagers who live in poorer neighborhoods.

Either way, it is nice to see the government in France is taking this kind of thing seriously.

[Surya Gayatri]

4. Indeed, underprivileged and under-educated women often believe

they have no choice but to put up with mental and physical abuse in exchange for imagined "security" from the males in their entourage.

But, things are surely and steadily evolving. Young Muslim women of African extraction are demanding and getting the chance to pursue an education in spite of resistance from male family members.

French social policy affords single mothers the advantages of daycare, income support, and housing support, thus freeing them from reliance on abusive males.

[seabeyond]

5. i apprecaite your post. and i know it is a much larger discussion than we are probably

gonna have. i find it fascinating though, as i say, the dichotomy of it.

i had heard little from the women of france, but with dsk and then the reporter that is pretty well believed, from france speaking out, it actually led to a lot of discussion of the issue for women in france, and what they put up with. it was wonderful hearing from the womens org in france speaking out. in the work place there are not the same laws nor expectations in the treatment of the women, that we have in the u.s. and there is a much stronger feel of male privilege in france than the u.s. though, we often talk about it here, it is still not as righteous as i have learned in other countries.

about the same time you had the pig pres in italy going thru his own issues. i also got to listen to the womens org in their country. in their television and how terribly misogynist it is. again, a play field for men at the expense of women, that our men here in the u.s. praise and tell us women if we were not such prudes, we would be embracing the misogyny like they do in the sexually advanced european countries. what was enlightening, was the uproar and voice coming from the women in italy.

i think that dsk thing and the noise it created did a lot of good for a realization there are issues that need to be talked about out loud.

at the time, i was talking a lot ot a man who lives in france. and he was very balanced in discussion, like you. loved it. but he was clear to stipulate that how the "normal" people lived was not how these politicians and others in power live. that in the normal world, the women did not put up with it, and the men did not feel they have that privilege. but, without the laws in a work force, then it does allow behavior. it is that simple.

anyway. thanks for this. what we have to work on in the u.s., it seems europe has a better handle. what europe has to work on, seems like u.s. has a better handle. we can take the good of both and have a better world for all.

[Surya Gayatri]

6. For sure, best practice from any source should be emulated and adopted!

In terms of support for real women in their real lives, French social policy comes in second behind only the Scandinavian countries.

The US has a hellova lot to learn about "family friendly" public policy.