Press fed up with sexist politicians

FED up with bawdy remarks and wandering hands, dozens of French women journalists have signed a petition, published yesterday, denouncing sexism from men politicians.

“Get your paws off me!” read the front page of the Liberation newspaper, where 40 women political reporters detailed sexist and lewd behaviour suffered while working in the corridors of power.

One describes waiting in the heart of the National Assembly only to be greeted by a lawmaker saying: “Ah but you’re on the game, hustling for a client.”

Another mentions a deputy running his hands through her hair, while a minister’s adviser asked a journalist upon her return from holiday if she was “tanned all over”.

From a political spokesman taking photos of sleeping women journalists onboard a plane during the last presidential campaign, to a “friend of the president” declaring that journalists were much more interesting when they had big breasts, the women hacks have had enough.

In the petition, they condemn the fact that little has changed after the downfall of International Monetary Fund chief and presidential front-runner Dominique Strauss-Kahn, whose notorious sexual appetite landed him in court on several occasions.

Strauss-Kahn’s career imploded after his arrest for allegedly sexually assaulting a New York hotel maid.

The charges were dropped but the case revealed details of his often crude behaviour with women, highlighting sexist attitudes from French men politicians.

The petition, however, highlights that there are also many politicians who do not act in this way, especially younger ones.

The petition was signed by 16 reporters from the main French media houses including Radio France International and Agence France Presse. – AFP