"Apologists for rape"? Harvey Weinstein victim Asia Argento and women rights' activists in France and around the world have excoriated French star Catherine Deneuve and co-signatories of a letter criticizing #MeToo.
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French stars divided over #MeToo
An open letter signed by over 100 celebrities, among them Catherine Deneuve, in the newspaper Le Monde has caused an uproar in France, where stars are divided about the role of the #MeToo and #BalancetonPorc actions.
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Catherine Deneuve
Among the signatories of the open letter was Oscar-nominated French star Catherine Deneuve. Already known for her controversial stance toward harassment, Deneuve has said she finds the #MeToo and #BalanceTonPorc social media actions "excessive." That's after she expressed her support for director Roman Polanski, who is still wanted in the US for the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl in 1977.
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Catherine Millet
Modern art expert and editor-in-chief of the magazine Art Press, Catherine Millet was also among the signatories who wrote, "Rape is a crime, but trying to seduce someone, even persistently or cack-handedly, is not — nor is men being gentlemanly a macho attack." Millet is perhaps best known for her book, "The Sexual Life of Catherine M.," a memoir tracing her 30 years in France's swinger scene.
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Ingrid Caven
German-born Chanson singer, Ingrid Caven, added her name to the open letter, which claims that the protest's legitimacy has turned into a "witch-hunt." "Instead of helping women, this frenzy (...) actually helps the enemies of sexual liberty — religious extremists and the worst sort of reactionaries. As women, we do not recognize ourselves in this feminism."
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Brigitte Lahaie
A radio talk show host who got her start in the porn industry in 1976, just a year after it was legalized, Brigitte Lahaie signed the letter, which speaks of a "purifying wave" that knows no limit. "(T)he human being is not monolithic: a woman can in the same day lead a professional team and enjoy being the sexual object of a man without being a 'slut' nor a vile accomplice of the patriarchy."
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#BalanceTonPorc
France's version of #MeToo is #BalanceTonPorc, or "call out your pig." Created by NY-based French journalist Sandra Muller, it essentially invites people to name names — and that involves legal risks. Muller herself was asked by lawyers to delete a tweet in which she named a French executive who had said offensive remarks.
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Ségolène Royal
Prominent feminists quickly responded to the letter signed by Deneuve, saying that it blurred the line between seduction and harassment and in doing so, harmed the "millions of women who suffer from this abuse." Former presidential candidate Ségolène Royal took to Twitter to express her dismay, saying, "It's too bad that our great Catherine Deneuve has signed on to this disconcerting text."
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Emma De Caunes
Among the women who have accused Harvey Weinstein of inappropriate behavior is French actress Emma De Caunes. De Caunes said she had met Weinstein for lunch at a Paris Hotel in 2010. She was invited to his hotel room to discuss a project but after he walked out of his bathroom naked with an erection, Caunes fled. "It was like a hunter with a wild animal," she said. "The fear turns him on."
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Florence Darel
In October, actress Florence Darel also came out as having been sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein, telling People magazine that Weinstein pursued her in the mid '90s and then propositioned her in a hotel room while his then-wife, Eve Chilton, was in the room next door. Darcel, who starred in "The Stolen Children" and "Uranus" has also accused other French producers, including Jacques Dorfmann.
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Isabelle Adjani
In October, shortly after the accusations against Harvey Weinstein went public, French actress Isabelle Adjani published an op-ed in the weekly JDD newspaper saying, "(T)his is not a game … When an actress dresses up in a seductive way to get a role, it's not to get raped!" She went on to say that in France, "things are more sneaky" than in the US — but "seduction" cannot be an excuse for assault.
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French movie star Catherine Deneuve and some 100 other women faced a severe backlash for putting their names to an open letter published in the daily Le Monde, which compared the #MeToo movement to a "witch hunt."
A group of leading French activists, including feminist Caroline De Haas, signed a reaction to the letter, branding Deneuve and the other signatories as "apologists for rape." Their piece was published on the FranceTVinfo website on Wednesday.
Deneuve's controversial stance on sexual assault is not new. In March last year, while discussing her support for filmmaker Roman Polanski, who is wanted in the US for the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl in 1977, she said that she "always found the word 'rape' excessive."
"Their letter is like a tired old uncle who doesn't understand what is happening," the feminists wrote.
Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne used different words to express similar thoughts, telling France 2 television that the open letter was "a bit out of sync with what many women may experience."
To say that #MeToo was puritanical and driven by a "hatred of men" was "contemptuous" of the victims of abuse and harassment, the feminists writing in protest insisted, accusing the letter writers of trying to "slam back the lid" blown off by the Weinstein scandal.
Unwanted groping, a 'non-event'?
The letter signed by Deneuve said that some women may see being rubbed against by a man in the metro as an expression of "sexual deprivation" or a "non-event."
"It's dangerous to put it this way," Gender Equality Minister Marlene Schiappa told France Culture radio, saying that the government already found it difficult to convince young women to file a complaint when someone gropes them.
Schiappa pointed out that such an act was a sexual assault punishable in France with up to three years in prison and a fine of €75,000 ($90,100).
Italian actress and film director Asia Argento, one of the first women to come forward with her allegations of sexual assault by Harvey Weinstein wrote that the signatories' "interiorized misogyny has lobotomized them to the point of no return."
New York Times cartoonist Colleen Doran commented on the fact that Deneuve most certainly isn't exposed to fondling on the subway:
American novelist Laila Lalami pointed out that such thinking was "the clearest explanation yet of how men like Woody Allen and Harvey Weinstein lasted," adding in a second tweet: "Sooner or later, race will have to be addressed. Would Catherine Deneuve be rushing to the defense of men who "try to steal a kiss" if these men had been North African?"
