Forever more free speech

When in the future social historians of the mores of literature and the arts calmly look into, objectively, far from any ideology, the influence of the Me Too and neo-feminist movements’ actions on the “liberation of speech” in the fields of literature, theatre, cinema, visual arts, graphic novels and comic strips ..., they will not fail to be astounded by their findings. One domain had yet to be inspected, one that had escaped the vigilant attention of the vice squad obsessed with the pursuit of “sexism” and “racism” in all areas of creation and symbolic production. Now it is done: an infernal machine for detecting and driving out evil is once again running at full throttle, aimed at silencing comedians. It bears the grandiose title of Haut Conseil à l’Égalité Entre les Femmes et les Hommes (HCE, High Council for Equality between Women and Men). We owe its invention, in 2013, as a replacement of l’Observatoire de la Parité (The Observatory of Parity), to the sadly missed François Hollande and his brilliant minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem. Our current leaders have improved the tool to eradicate “sexist violence” by this time launching their watchdogs and bitches against such dangerous individuals as comedians and impersonators: the infamous Laurent Gerra, Nicolas Canteloup, Nicolas Bedos, a number of renowned YouTubers. Jokes, humour à la francaise are targeted. A Lady Bousquet, at the head of the brigade of the virtuous, writes in the delicious inclusive language for which she campaigns that humour is “the weapon of the oppressors to the detriment of the oppressed”. [In the French the text provides the subjects of verbs with alternative spellings allowing for alternative gender.] Thus she launches a list (it’s crazy how much the Crusaders for Good like lists!) of offenders and places where they operate: radio andTV stations, various sites, videos, comics, newspapers. Any trace of “deadly sexist ideology” is remorselessly denounced. “There is a continuum between sexist remarks and violence. We know that sexist insults maintain the culture of violence against women.” Let’s not take this lightly; from this vengeful prose, laws will rain down. Madame Schiappa, Secretary for Equality between Women and Men, is in charge, faithful to the recommendation of her president Emmanuel Macron who had announced that women’s rights would be “the great cause of his five-year term”. Tomorrow the task will be imposed on the “penal”-thirsty to put the past in order, as some fevered feminists already do by rewriting the books of famous male writers, Homer and authors of the Gospels, Stendhal, Joyce and Philip Roth ... Let’s regret that some radio commentators, major newspapers, have masochistically applauded this infringement of freedom of speech, that guilt-ridden YouTubers are, trousers down, eating humble pie; and let’s be worried for all the great comedians who have made our world a little less overwhelming and stupid: the Le Lurons, Desproges, Coluches, Guy Bedos, the Deschiens. Their appearance on our television screens is becoming increasingly rare, as is the replay of their sketches on so-called social networks.