French Feminism

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Feminism -- it is a term that inspires a spectrum of emotions that range from undying passion to unabashed disgust. The first time that I gave serious thought to where my heart stood on this spectrum was in a Women's Studies course during my freshman year of college. In my mind was the American stereotype of a feminist: a bra-burning, man-hating, and somewhat-hairy old maid. As a self-proclaimed, loudmouth liberal that despises patriarchy and other forms of gender discrimination, I wanted to call myself a feminist, but I could not align myself with that unfeminine stereotype.

Being a collector of high heels, lover of men, and an abuser of feminine guile, I felt as though claiming to be a feminist would be in turn proving to be a hypocrite. Then I came to the revelation that perhaps it is not feminism that I could not come to terms with, but rather le féminisme à l'américaine. It turns out that despite the United States label on my passport, my personal feminist philosophy is unpatriotically un-American, and instead fantastically French. I want equal pay, but I still want him to pay for the check.

As a political science major by choice, and a female by nature, I am very interested in how this "have your cake and eat it too" attitude of French feminism will apply to my future approach to gaining power in the male-dominated sphere of law and politics. Both the United States and France are historic, as well as modern, oppressors of women, and despite liberation movements on both sides of the Atlantic, women are still extremely disproportionately represented in positions of power. Subsequently, this paper will tie together the fields of Women's Studies, Political Science, and French Culture by discussin...

... middle of paper ...

..., Françoise and Farhad Khosrokhavar. "The Headscarf and the Republic." Trans. Eva Valenta. Beyond French Feminisms: Debates on Women, Politics, and Culture in France, 1981-2001. Ed. Roger Célestin, Eliana DalMolin, and Isabelle de Courtivron. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 61-67.

Inter-Parliamentary Union. " Women in Parliaments." Inter-Parliamentary Union. 10 April 2005. 15 April 2005. <www.ipu.org/wmn-e/world.htm>

McMillan, James. France and Women 1789-1914: Gender, Society, and Politics. London: Routledge, 2000.

Sineau, Mariette. "Parité in Politics: From Radical Idea to Consensual Reform." Trans. Heidi Kyser Genoist and Margaret Colvin. Beyond French Feminisms: Debates on Women, Politics, and Culture in France, 1981-2001. Ed. Roger Célestin, Eliana DalMolin, and Isabelle de Courtivron. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2003, 113-125.

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