The Role of Intersectionality in French Feminism
By Ariana King, Culture Staff Writer
Feminism. Defined in the Webster English dictionary as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes”, it remains largely that—a theory. While many countries are working towards equal rights for men and women, even going so far as to name it one of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals, gender inequality is still a prevalent issue, even in some of the most “developed” nations.
Ahead of its counterparts, France is one of the only six countries to legalize equal treatment of men and women in the workplace. In 2017, the country was ranked 5th out of all the countries in the European Union on the Gender Equality Index with a score of 72.6 out of 100. President Emmanuel Macron also referred to the fight for gender equality as a “great global cause”, and plans to improve women’s rights at home by closing the wage gap, enacting fines for street harassment and creating an age of consent.
So, while France has made progress towards these lofty goals—the government passed its first law penalizing street harassment in August 2018—there is still much work to be done. Top political and leadership positions, as well as the majority of representation in media, remains dominated by men. There is also prevalent sexism in French society and still much violence against women.
While it is clear that these statistics give us a general picture of what life looks like for French women, it doesn’t examine how factors other than gender shape French women’s experiences. This is instead a question of the role of intersectionality—how the agglomeration of a person’s identities shape their experiences in a unique, one-of-a-kind way.
Unlike the United States, French statistics don’t generally include divisions by race, ethnicity or religion. This is largely due to the French’s commitment and interpretation of equality. For them, discussions about race or religion are discriminatory—those factors don’t need to be a part of the conversation because everyone is inherently equal.
In principle, this interpretation of equality is ideal; however, in practice, the government approval needed to conduct a study dealing with race or religion makes it difficult to see if France is actually upholding its commitment to equality. It may be for this reason that many French women outside of the stereotypical norm: caucasian, non-religious or Catholic and French by birth, feel the need to define their own versions of feminism.
For example, the term “feministe musulmane,” or “Muslim feminist,” has been widespread amongst the Muslim community in France since the early 2000s. The term was created in hopes of fighting against the notion that Muslims couldn’t be feminists because their religion was “inherently sexist.” Members of the Muslim feminist community also stress that feminism doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone and shouldn’t be defined nor interpreted solely by the West.
For Anfouwat, a black French Muslim YouTuber, the term “Muslim feminist” is absolutely necessary because it gives a voice to Muslim women who are often discredited by mainstream feminists. In her opinion, negative media images of Islam, particularly the claims that wearing the hijab is always an act of “soumission”, further damages Muslim women’s reputation. These claims make it seem like Muslim women are the ones choosing to submit to a sexist system and actually bypasses the real abuse some Muslim women face due to violent misinterpretations of Islam and the hijab.
At the end of the day, Anfouwat asserts that, “We [Muslim women] are not oppressed by our religion, but by those who think we are, and that Islam and feminism are incompatible.”
Like Muslim women, black women also face additional challenges within society, but for different reasons. As previously mentioned, France has made great efforts to improve equality in the workplace. Yet, even as equality between men and women improves, the benefits of these changes are coming later for black women versus for white women.
According to a study by Carmen Diop, a doctoral candidate in sociology at the University of Paris-V-René Descartes, black women have more trouble than other women finding a job, facing discrimination in the workplace and general disrespect. Even when black women work their way up to positions of power, they’re often given assignments meant for someone with lower ability.
Much of this workplace discrimination can be attributed, according to Amandine Gay—black French filmmaker—to harmful stereotypes regarding black women. Black women are hypersexualized and thought of as “uneducated, poor, and, above all victims.” It is easy to see how these stereotypes influence others’ interactions and opinions of black women.
So with all these complications brewing under the simple phrase “French feminism”, what can be done to ensure these women’s voices are heard? One answer is through the arts.
In Amandine Gay’s film, “Ouvrir La Voix” (Speaking Out), Gay gives black women a platform to tell their stories and fight against ignorant stereotypes. Like Anfouwat, other French minority women can become Internet activists or artists and raise awareness through social media to shed light on these issues.
In the end, recognition of intersectionality amongst French feminists and the French government is necessary to uphold the French’s commitment to equality. Yet, in order to do that, the French government must recognize that discussions about race and religion don’t make people unequal, rather the lack of conversation hinders the country from achieving equality.
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Hadni, Dounia. “Comment être féministe et musulmane?” The Liberation. Last modified December 19, 2017. Accessed October 17, 2019.
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