French film icon slams #Metoo, defends men's right to hit on women

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‍A group of high-profile French women, including screen legend Catherine Deneuve, has hit back at the #Metoo campaign against sexual harassment and defended men's right to hit on women.

In an open letter published in the daily Le Monde on Tuesday, the collective of 100 women – including journalists, artists, academics and medical professionals – argued “we do not identify with this feminism, which beyond denouncing the abuse of power, takes on the appearance of a hatred of men and of sexuality.”

“Rape is a crime. But persistent or clumsy flirting is not an offense,” the letter went on.

The letter comes after a wave of sexual abuse scandals in the US, which first hit Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein and has since felled top figures in media, film and politics, including actor Kevin Spacey, senator Al Franken and NBC host Matt Lauer.

(L-R) Actresses Eva Longoria, Sharon Stone, Geena Davis, and Reese Witherspoon at the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards on January 7, 2018. Actresses chose to wear black to support the Time's Up movement against sexual harassment. /VCG Photo

The claims sparked the #Metoo movement, which encouraged women to speak out about sexual harassment.

The Weinstein scandal and others following it prompted a “legitimate raising of awareness about sexual violence against women… It was necessary,” the French letter said Tuesday.

But it added: “Public confessions, the intrusion of self-proclaimed prosecutors into the private sphere, this is something akin to a totalitarian society.”

'Expose your pig'

Among other things, the letter slammed efforts to shut down a retrospective in Paris honoring film director Roman Polanski – who faces rape allegations in the US going back to the 1970s – and the postponement of another tribute to French director Jean-Claude Brisseau, who was found guilty of sexual harassment in 2005.

This combo of file photos shows French-Polish film director Roman Polanski (R) and US writer and former actress Samantha Geimer, named as the victim in the 1970s child sex conviction against Polanski. /VCG Photo

The letter condemned what it described as “a frenzy to send the ‘pigs’ to the slaughterhouse,” without due legal process.

#Balancetonporc – meaning “expose your pig” – was started in October and was France’s answer to the international #Metoo movement, encouraging women to share their personal experiences and name names.

Hitting back at such online campaigns, the authors of the Le Monde letter deplored: “This swift justice has already made victims, men punished in their job, forced to resign, etc… when their only mistake was to touch a knee, try and steal a kiss… or send messages with sexual connotations to a woman who did not feel the same attraction.”

Interiorised mysogyny?

Reactions on Twitter were quick but split, with some calling it "deplorable" or "disappointing" while others welcomed the authors’ comments.

Twitter Screenshot

“What a shame that our great Catherine Deneuve has added her name to this appalling text,” tweeted former French environment minister Segolene Royal.

Italian actress Asia Argento, one of Weinstein’s accusers, added in a separate tweet: “Catherine Deneuve and other French women tell the world how their interiorized misogyny has lobotomized them to the point of no return.”

Deneuve, the grande dame of French cinema and the letter’s most prominent signatory, attracted flak for defending Oscar winner Polanski last March, arguing that to describe the allegations against him as rape was “excessive,” according to AFP news agency.

France's national identity

The fact that this most recent retort to #Metoo came from France did not go unnoticed.

Women hold placards as they gather for a rally at the Old Port of Marseille, southern France, on October 29, 2017, to denounce harassment and sexual violence in everyday life. /VCG Photo

“In a country whose culture and literature has been marked for centuries by libertine practices, gallantry and open sexuality, the puritan police, which makes a crime out of every clumsy chat-up, could not remain unopposed for long,” German daily Die Welt wrote Wednesday.

Unlike in the US and UK, where a line of high-profile names have had to stand down over allegations of sexual harassment, the #Balancetonporc campaign in France has brought down few big names.

There is an “idealization of ‘French-style’ seduction and this anti-feminism is almost part of the national identity and is seen as a retort against Anglo-Saxon culture,” Christine Bard, a history professor specializing in feminism at France's University of Angers, told the New York Times recently.

Actor Ewan McGregor wears a "Time's Up" pin on his tuxedo in support of the movement against sexual harassment at the Golden Globes in Los Angeles on January 7, 2018. /VCG Photo

The letter in Le Monde came out two days after Hollywood made a show of support for the #Metoo movement at the Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles.

The French text however hit back at the idea that women should be seen as victims.

“(A woman) can make sure her salary is equal to that of a man, and not be traumatized for life by a man rubbing up against her in the subway,” it said.

“Accidents that may touch a woman’s body do not necessarily hurt her dignity, and do not need to make her a victim forever.”

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