Politics is a reflection of society. However, in France, misogyny and sexism are still very strongly rooted in morals. Thus, if political figures face, by virtue of their function, many waves of hatred, insults or harassment of all kinds, this phenomenon is increased tenfold for women.
Remarks on the physique, the clothes, infantilization, invisibilization, the middle of politics is an infernal jungle in which sexism is palpable and undeniable. According to a transpartisan survey carried out by the Elected Locals network among 950 women and revealed by Le Parisien in 2021, 74% of elected officials in local authorities experience sexism.
“They have been giving us these testimonies for ten years. Today it was a question of quantifying the phenomenon. From now on, this study must be an electric shock for local authorities. Especially since the overwhelming majority of the violence denounced comes from other elected colleagues (82%, editor’s note). And if we welcome the speaking out of women politicians in the media, they are indeed the tree that hides the forest”, explains Julia Mouzon, founder of the network aiming to change the mentalities on the place of women in politics.
But beyond women politicians, patriarchy also attacks all those who gravitate around men in the milieu. With the development of social networks and the rise of far-right conspiratorial spheres in recent years, it is thus common for the wives of elected men to be the direct target of sexist attacks. The First Lady, Brigitte Macron, does not so no exception. Since the election of her husband in 2017, she has regularly been the target of theories or rumors aimed at discrediting her.
