Article source: "Sexisme en France : «Les réseaux sociaux sont intrinsèquement masculinistes»", Agathe Di Lenardo, Libération, 23/01/2023.
On Monday, the government council for gender equality (Haut Conseil à l’égalité, HCE) released their fifth annual report on sexism in France. In the report's view, “the situation is alarming.” 41% of women between the ages of 15 and 24 say they have experienced inequalities at school or college. 22% of women between 18 and 24 say they have already been sexually assaulted or raped. Only 48% of men between 15 and 34 think that the way women are depicted in pornography is problematic, and 23% of them believe that it is sometimes necessary to be violent in order to gain respect. Sophie Barre, a national coordinator of the feminist group #NousToutes, talks about the implications of this report.
Here’s the beginning of the report: “Sexism is not declining in France. Some of its most violent expressions are actually getting worse, and this is especially true for younger generations.” In what areas is sexism most prominent among younger people?
First of all, in schools, not much is being done to ensure equality. As a teacher and the mother of a 6-year-old boy, I’ve noticed that stereotypes are increasingly prevalent in schools. The teacher is going to give princess stickers to girls as a reward and knight stickers to boys. Girls are also often complimented on their physical appearance. From a very young age, they’re associated with care, and weakness, whereas boys are given more leeway. This impacts their later course choices, as boys often choose STEM courses and tend to get better opportunities than girls as a result. It’s also still believed that girls can’t control their emotions.
Sexism also has an impact on romantic and/or sexual relationships between teenagers. Actually, it is young people between 15 and 25 who most often experience violence in their relationships. Paradoxically, although girls are thought to be unable to control their emotions, it is boys who seem to have urges they can’t control. But sexism is also fuelled by books, films, TV, music, and adverts… and obviously it is also perpetuated within families.
The HCE puts the blame on certain new trends, especially on social media and in pornography, that normalise violent views among younger audiences. What impact does this misogynistic hate have in real life, and why is it on the rise?
This normalisation of sexual violence, presented as normal sex, is what we call rape culture. You can see it a lot in pornography. Rapes are acted out, yet they’re shown as normal sexual behaviour. There’s a strong eroticisation of violence during sex. And this idea is also conveyed in other media aimed at young people. Meanwhile, social media sites are intrinsically masculinist. Algorithms, especially on Instagram, will censor egalitarian feminist content but not sexist comments.
Men over the age of 65 are shown to be more conservative, they’re more likely to “limit men and women to very strict social roles.” However, surprisingly, men under the age of 35 are shown to be “more affected by masculinist stereotypes and have a stronger need to assert a hegemonic masculinity”. What does this mean?
Hegemonic masculinity is the representation of characteristics perceived as inherently masculine. It’s a social construct that changes over time, depending on social circumstances as well as culture. The rise of social media also pushes people to show themselves in a certain light, to amplify their gender and therefore put on a performance of masculinity. Today, it’s considered normal for a man to be, among other things, “manly”, strong, more rational than emotional and capable of seducing women.
The HCE suggests a large-scale emergency plan and a number of ideas to improve the situation. How can these ideas help to fight sexism?
When it comes to young people, we clearly need to start enforcing the three mandatory annual classes about sexuality and relationships at every level in secondary schools (a legal requirement since 2001, ed.). These sessions include some basics about biology, obviously, but also teach students about respect and consent. Training teachers is also a priority, because we know they have a discriminatory bias against girls. If we don’t deconstruct these kinds of biases, then sexism will continue to be passed down to children. I think there’s a serious lack of political will: the government is responsible, because they have the power to act in schools. We also have to work towards a better regulation of online content and a ban on gendered toys, but these things are controlled by private industries and are therefore much harder to achieve.
Translated by Gauthier Sénécal and Sophie Garnier.
Editing by Sam Trainor.