This morning I came across an interesting article at the Guardian (via the Feminist Philosophers). According to the article, a small sexual revolution is taking place in France in wake of the DSK affair: women are fed up (ras le bol!) with the general attitude of tolerance towards sexual harassment and even rape. In particular, it appears now that high-placed politicians and other powerful men are treated with much too much lenience, a phenomenon that can be traced back to a long history of association of political power to sexual ‘exuberance’, to use a euphemism (many historical leaders such as Napoleon and Louis XIV had dozens, even hundreds of mistresses). Even more worrisome, and clearly related to the DSK affair, is the powerful men’s perceived ‘right’ to demand sexual favors from women of ‘lower rank’. As the article describes:
For many, the French culture of sexual conquest is a hangover from the old, monarchic traditions of the Ancien Régime: powerful men seen as having a right to exact sexual favours from subordinates and political leaders held in esteem for their libido.
As widely reported (here as well), many prominent French public figures reacted to the imprisonment of DSK with bewilderment and disdain: oh, American Puritanism! What’s the big deal if a powerful man ‘engages in courtship’ with a chambermaid? But now comes the surprise: many of their female compatriots did not in any way share their perception of the affair, and in fact were truly disgusted at the reactions of people such as Bernard-Henry Levy and others. As it turns out, now several women are coming forward with their stories of sexual abuse and rape by DSK and other powerful male politicians; rather than an opportunistic move, it is clear that the reason why they are coming forward at this point is that they now feel they stand a chance of being heard, of being taken seriously. I was particularly appalled to read the story of Tristane Banon, one of the women who now report having been victims of DSK’s sexual assaults in the past, who was dissuaded to press charges against him by her own mother (a member of DSK’s socialist party). Clearly, these women felt they didn’t stand a chance.
And now several female politicians are also coming forward with horrific stories on the hostility they encounter in French political environments, where the idea that powerful men are entitled to the ‘sexual favors’ of any woman they choose is apparently prevalent. Now that they feel they are finally being heard, many women are vocally opposing the ‘French culture of sexual conquest’ with protests and demonstrations. One cannot help hoping that something good will come out of this whole story: if the uncontested hegemony of this mentality is weakened if only slightly, that will already be something to rejoice about.
I must confess that for a long time I admired the ‘maturity’ with which the French handled the personal lives of their public figures (interestingly, virtually all male…). For example, it was known to the whole country that Mitterrand had a mistress, with whom he had a daughter, but this did not prevent him from fulfilling his public duties. But now I realize that this ‘maturity’ was actually part of a much larger context of excessive lenience and a good deal of abuse and harassment.
These recent events also have interesting connections with our discussions on sexual harassment in the philosophy profession of a few months ago. What we seem to be witnessing in France is the change from a situation where certain behaviors are socially tolerated to an increasing feeling of ‘enough is enough!’. While we philosophers haven’t had anything nearly as dramatic as the DSK affair and its repercussions, it is to be hoped that we too can take the cue and reflect on how sexual harassment is perceived and on why it shouldn’t be tolerated, not even in its ‘mild’ forms.
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