Catherine Deneuve's #MeToo letter denounced by French women's rights activists
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Catherine Deneuve's letter has been labelled "deplorable". (AP: Evan Agostini/Invision, file)
An open letter signed by movie star Catherine Deneuve and dozens of other French women about men being unfairly targeted by sexual misconduct allegations has prompted a backlash in the French press and on social media.
Key points:
- Deneuve's letter said men were being unfairly targeted by sexual misconduct allegations
- Activists including feminist Caroline De Haas said the letter made sexual violence appear "normal"
- Writer Abnousse Shalmani said she was surprised by the "extremely violent reactions" the letter prompted
In the letter, published in Le Monde newspaper, Deneuve and about 100 actresses, writers, scholars and artists argued that the "legitimate protest against sexual violence" stemming from the Harvey Weinstein scandal has gone too far and threatened hard-won sexual freedoms.
The man's right to "pester" a woman was an essential part of sexual freedom, they said, describing the campaign as "puritanism".
French women's rights activists have denounced the letter as "a bit like the awkward work colleague or annoying uncle who doesn't understand what's happening".
The activists, including feminist Caroline De Haas, wrote on the Franceinfotv website that Deneuve and other signatories are making sexual violence appear "normal".
"Those who signed the letter deliberately conflated seduction, based on respect and pleasure, with violence … these signatories are for the most part recidivists in the matter of defending child abusers or apologists for rape," the group said in an open letter of its own.
"Once again they are using their high profiles in the media to make sexual violence seem commonplace.
"They despise the millions of women who suffer or have suffered this violence."
The group added: "Many of them are often quick to criticise sexism when it comes from men from working-class areas; but a hand on the arse, when done by a man from their milieu … is all part of the 'right to hit on someone', according to them.
"This strange ambivalence allows us to appreciate their alleged attachment to feminism."
'Deeply offensive and false'
Marlene Schiappa, France's Junior Minister for Women's Rights, criticised Deneuve's letter.
"There are in this open letter some things that are deeply offensive and false," she told France Culture radio.
The letter, signed by Deneuve and 99 others, said some women may see being rubbed against by a man in the metro as an expression of "sexual deprivation" or a "non-event".
Ms Schiappa countered that "it's dangerous to say such things" and insisted such an act constituted sexual assault punishable with up to three years in prison and a fine of $114,500.
Writer Abnousse Shalmani, one of those who signed the open letter, said she was surprised by the "extremely violent reactions" it prompted.
"I consider myself to be a grown-up. I am capable of receiving a sexual proposition and even more capable of saying no," she said on Europe 1 radio.
Italian filmmaker and actress Asia Argento, one of the dozens of women who have alleged Weinstein sexually harassed or assaulted them, called the letter "deplorable" in a tweet.
AP/Reuters
Topics: world-politics, sexual-offences, people, film, social-media, france, united-states, italy
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