DEBATE – Read in the papers that there’s a raging debate in France on the difference between seduction and sexual harassment. The debate is triggered by claims of Hollywood stars that they were subjected to sexual harassment, including rape, by powerful men in the industry.
Seems that Frenchmen in general see nothing wrong with seduction – flirting, teasing, and chasing women – as long as it isn’t against their will. No no violence, please.
Let France’s “Don Juan National identity” remain.
But prominent feminists, among them Caroline de Haas, insists this point of view has protected men from accusations of sexual harassment.
Says Ms. Haas: “Often in France, we hide beyond the idea of gallantry for men. But this is constructed to make us hide the violence and think it is seduction.”
She called the French government’s response to the allegation of sexual harassment “radio silence” when compared with other countries such as Great Britain or the United States.
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SEPARATE LIVES – Well, for years and years the French separate the public and private lives of politicians and artists.
Former President Francoise Mitterrand had a mistress and a love child. He remained popular to the very end. (Think of our very own Joseph Estrada.)
Culture Minister Francoise Nyssen defended director Roman Polanski amid calls to cancel the screening of his movies.
He urged people not to condemn the films of the Polish-born director who was accused of having sex with a teener in the US decades back.
Polanski was even honored with a Cesar, France’s answer to Hollywood’s Oscar.
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RIGHT TO – Around 100 French women, including the revered Catherine Deneuve, wrote an open letter deploring the wave of “denunciations” that has followed claims that Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein raped and sexually assaulted women over decades.
They claimed that the “witch-hunt” that has followed threatened sexual freedom. “Rape is a crime, but trying to seduce someone, even persistently or cackhandedly, is not…”
The letter said, “Men have been punished summarily, forced out of their jobs when all they did was touch someone’s knee or try to steal a kiss.”
The letter was published in the daily Le Monde.