updated: august 2005
What exactly has prompted women from all walks of like,
often with conflicting commitments, to join forces?Public services, either past or present, is what we all have in common. We are launching this call for equlity of opportunity and rights for men and women in an uneasy France and an uncertain world, on the cusp of the new millenerium. For true equlity that pays more than lip service to promises made, whether in the heat of election campaings or not, to keep people happy. Such equality is more necessary and pressing than ever, not just for women, but for our country: even more so than in the past, full participation by women is inextricably bound up with the national interest.
All of us have had, to varying degrees, to deal with the inability of the French political system to accept women at their real worth. The yawning chasm between the stated principles and actual behavior of the political class has been evidenced in many ways, from condescending indifference and contempt to outright hostility. The political class has still not come to terms with women wielding real power in the running of the country. Readers, especially women, will not have forgotten the various misfortunes that have dogged the individual signatories of this manifesto.
Spinoza wrote: 'Neither laugh nor cry, but understand'. To understand is to take the first step toward remedying a situation that is as unfair as it is pernicious.
Such strong resistance to women in French politics is indicative of something in our civic history and culture that is more deeply rooted than mere prejudice, that outweighs any intention that might be honorable or less so. Especially since, and this is what reinforces us in our approach, we have encountered men very high up in office who are conscious of this shamefully unfair situation and who have wanted, and not just for reasons of expedience, to rectify it.
We are the reflection of all French women, who saw their position and role acknowledged, who saw their political skills, long confined to the salon or pillow, recognized.
But this concern with fairness has not spread beyond authority; political parties have not taken up the cause. Although women are indeed on an equal footing with men in terms of eligible voter numbers and turnout, there is still a long way to go before similar parity is achieved in the numbers holding elected office. Fifty years after Frenchwomen first won the vote, only 5% are senators or mayors, 6% deputies or regional councilors. Proportional representation would considerably improve the situation: 12% of regional councilors and 30% of members of the European Parliament.
France ranks at the bottom of the list of the 20 leading industrialized European and North American countries in terms of representation of women in parliament, lagging far behind the Scandinavians, Germany and Spain. Within the European Union, France has the lowest proportion of women in elected office. Furthermore, only 6% of government appointees are women: 2. 6% of prefects, 2% of ambassadors, 5. 5% of central civil service directors. Women fare little better in the senior ranks of public corporations and institutions. However, they are gaining greater access to key civil service bodies upon graduation from the Ecole Nationale d'Administration.
Although there are historic reasons such as winning the right to vote at a relatively late stage and Salic law for this situation, the true causes must be sought elsewhere.
France's republican tradition has been underlying since the very beginning. Here, as in the case of other issues raised by contemporary society, this tradition creates as many problems as it provides solutions. Let us be clear. For us, 'liberty, equality, fraternity,' the republican motto, the essence of our national pact, does not go far enough. We have to identify the origins of this typically French resistance to women in the system of political representation and action and, more generally, selection of the 'elite'. It is crucial for our future, because the State continues to be a leading player and reference, not to say model, for all other sectors of society.
Women's under-representation in public life and political power stems from a tradition rooted in outmoded Jacobinism. This not always democratic political philosophy, which lies at the heart of our republican culture, was first and foremost a man's affair. Both practically and symbolically. Jacobinism centralizes and creates hierarchies, provides lessons and is arrogant; it also educates, employs rhetoric and is rationalist to the point of fanciful abstraction. In some ways, it is a concentrate of masculine qualities as fantasized by an era permeated by an imaginary antiquity.
Relationships with others as they really are, sensitivity, the concrete and daily concerns were thus dismissed from all matters political. And with them, women. The republican pantheon of mayors, teachers, soldiers and judges was dominated by men. In more modern times, Jacobin centralization waxed under the Fifth Republic, fed by the close ties between senior officials and political circle. Representation and implementation are in the hands of a small group of leaders, all of whom have received the same education at the grandes coles and joined the inner circles of state very early on. This group, stable in its composition and difficult of access, is in reality a 'democratic aristocracy' in the guise of a republican elite. It is high time that we put an end to these stereotypes and obstacles by feminizing the Republic. The viewpoint, experience and culture of women are sorely missed when legislation is drafted.
After the great legal strides of the 1970s and 1980s, the equal rights movement is treading water, even losing ground. The recession merely accentuates this: women are reluctant to voice their 'specific' claims. But they are not taken in. They know, or sense, that they are the first affected by layoffs and unemployment, whether total or partial, that salary discrepancies remain, that the glass ceiling exists. Not just women, but French society as a whole and its ability to successfully negotiate the sweeping changes in progress suffer as a result.
The world has changed more in the last few years than in the previous half-century. What impact have these new sources of wealth, well-being and power had? Information and its circulation, knowledge and its dissemination, individual and collective relations: women, because of their identity and history, are as well placed? if not better? as men to rise to the looming challenges. Now that physical strength matters only in boxing rings, now that a hierarchical organization is obsolescent, now that linear and abstract reasoning can no longer deal with the complexities of an increasingly interdependent world, now that dialogue and discussion are the keys to collective decision-making, as last year's labor unrest demonstrated, it is time to change our view of power and the way it is shared out between men and women.
Will France be the last country to come to this realization in the post-industrial world? Discussion, education, persuasion and encouragement are no longer sufficient to change a situation that has persisted despite the best of intentions. Politics must lead the way if true equality of the sexes at all levels and in all sectors of French society is to be achieved. The time has come when constraint, even if only transient, is needed. The exercise of power and democracy cannot be reshaped without unswerving determination and political pressure. The ultimate aim is to achieve equality in stages.
We recommend: 1 A united policy espoused by political parties, the government and women's associations alike. The Scandinavian countries have already demonstrated the effectiveness of such an approach. They do not shy away from quotas when necessary; without this prompting, it is easier to do nothing. The introduction of proportional representation? even partial? for legislative elections would bolster mandatory quotas. We need to reach the critical threshold of one-third of elected representatives in each body concerned.
2 Drastic term limits and restrictions on holding more than one office, to ensure better sharing and exercising of power. This would free up several thousand seats.
3 Funding of political parties in accordance with equality of representation on their management bodies and in terms of elected representatives.
4 Deliberate appointment to state and government positions of responsibility, based on the principle of equality.
5 Passing of legislation on sexism similar to that on racism, allowing human rights associations and individuals to institute civil or criminal proceedings.
6 We favor amending the Constitution to introduce affirmative action, if necessary, and firmly believe that the majority of our fellow citizens would support this
7 Why not a referendum on this very issue?
10 Signatures Michèle BARZACH,
Fréderique BREDIN,
Edith CRESSON,
Hélène GISSEROT,
Catherine LALUMIERE,
Véronique NEIERTZ,
Monique PELLETIER,
Yvette ROUDY,
Catherine TASCA,
Simone VEIL.
Copyright L'Express. Autorisation à l'annuaire au féminin 1996
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