‘#Metoo’ has damaged French art of seduction, says actress

AN AGONY aunt has said the #Metoo movement has damaged the art of French seduction, as she lashed out at “Anglo-saxon” puritanism.

In a new book, Brigitte Lahaie, 62, a radio host and former porn star, was among 100 women including Catherine Deneuve, the actress, who signed a petition in January attacking the “puritan persecution” of men in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

Her column in Le Monde said the #Metoo campaign, which saw millions of women share sexual harassment stories on social media, had gone too far and was fuelled by a “hatred of men”.

In Bonfire of the Sexes, published this week, she wrote: “I want to defend our seduction à la française. France, our beautiful country full of excellence, doesn’t deserve to follow the model of Anglo-saxon countries… that threaten our relationships, our ties.”

Signatories of the “100 women” petition later fell out when Ms Lahaie claimed it was possible for victims to have an orgasm while being raped. Deneuve denounced the statement as “worse than spitting in the face of all those who suffered from this crime”. Ms Lahaie apologised and wept in a television interview, saying her words had been taken out of context. She said this week: “I came under torrents of hatred. I was burned at the stake of social media… yet all I did was tell a truth known to specialists, doubtless inaudible in these sensitive times where man has become the ‘John of Arc’ of the era.”

She added: “Things go too far when any phrase taken the wrong way by a woman is seen as harassment.”