Macron slammed for saying no educated woman wants 7 children
PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is facing criticism from mothers with big families both at home and abroad for comments he made about women and fertility in Africa.
Hundreds of French and American women took offense at a September speech that Macron made at the Gates Foundation’s Goalkeepers Summit, when he said a critical issue for Africa’s population is that women and girls aren’t able to choose whether or not to have children — and linked it to a lack of education.
He said: “I always say: ‘Please present me the lady who decided, being perfectly educated, to have seven, eight, nine children’.”
Macron was trying to emphasize that parenthood should be a choice — especially in poorer parts of Africa.
But many women around the world who felt stung by Macron’s choice of words are using the hashtag #postcards for Macron on social media to criticize him and share photos of their large families.
The hashtag was trending on Twitter in France in recent days, with more than 20,000 posts about the topic on Wednesday and Thursday.
Large families are valued in the West African nation, providing a safety net for parents in their later years. Activists say about half of the girls in Burkina Faso get married before 18.