France is invited by its vigilant avant-garde to rid itself, once and for all, of its singularity and to become, in the name of the fight against discrimination, a disciplined province of neo-Puritan America.
In a chilling little book1 that his mortal enemy Stalin would not have disavowed, Trotsky affirms that the end justifies the means, that is to say the abolition of all legal and moral bonds between the enemy classes. Sobered up from the great communist illusion, I do not believe for my part that emancipation can pass through generalized denunciation. And it was not, in me, the man in the masculine sense of the word who retched when he learned of the existence of the hashtag - "You too tell by giving the name and the details, a sexual harassment that you have experienced in your job. Swing your pig! – is the civilized human being. We are eardrums, day and night, with values, but the word "balance" and the practice it induces are contrary to all the values of civilization. This filthy wording has aroused the disgust of many historical feminists and the horror of jurists such as, for example, the lawyer Marie Dosé: “Justify the process “Swing your pig!” by an alleged failure of the judicial authority or by the prescription of the denounced facts, leads to a form of despotism. A democracy must fight arbitrariness before impunity, because guilt cannot be decreed on social networks, but is questioned judicially. (...) It is not a question of denunciation but of denunciation, not of plaintiffs but of scales, not of justice, but of revenge. By dodging the legal sphere, the evidence to be brought and the adversarial principle, a man is condemned with such violence that there is hardly any possible answer. The victims do not have to decide the fate inflicted on their alleged harasser by circumventing the judicial sphere. »
Insane extension of the realm of harassment
This concern was brushed aside by the Secretary of State for the Equality of Women and Men. “Anything that helps free women's voices is positive! », said Marlene Schiappa. The Keeper of the Seals and the Minister of Health followed suit. We have therefore seen the representatives of the State celebrate the trampling of the rule of law, to the applause of most of the media engaged in a great crusade against the Male after the revelations on the predatory sexuality of a Hollywood producer for a long time -powerful : Harvey Weinstein.
The fact remains, I will be told, that a multitude of women have responded to the call and that this number is significant. Do we not discover, on the occasion of the Weinstein affair, that our society is much more sexist than it claims? I ask myself the question and I obviously do not deny that some men are tempted to abuse their position of power. But I don't forget either the slogan that emerged the day after the attacks of November 13, 2015: “We are on the terrace. » What is a terrace? It is a public place where men and women mingle freely, it is a space of delicious promiscuity. This is what we spontaneously defended against the jihadist fury and we are told, two years later, that pigs are everywhere and that each woman has found her own. Muriel Salmona, the psychiatrist who is about to give Marlène Schiappa a "Manifesto against impunity for sexual crimes", even affirms that "the culture of rape permeates the collective unconscious of our society". What is good with the unconscious is that it is irrefutable. If you protest against this pillorying of a whole world, Muriel Salmona sketches a smile and winks: your denial is proof that she hit the nail on the head. When it comes, however, to say what this culture consists of, we are witnessing, on the model of what happens for racism, an insane extension of the field of harassment. During one of the innumerable reports dedicated to this phenomenon, I saw on television a victim mentioning the man who, one day in the bus, had masturbated in front of her. Painful moment, I agree. But where is the bullying? There are also perverts who open their coats when leaving school. We can regret that this kind of exhibitionism is still rampant, but it says nothing about the relationship between men and women in our society.
The unchallenged reign of transparency
And now another predator finds itself in the hot seat: Roman Polanski. A retrospective is dedicated to him from October 30 at the Cinémathèque de Paris. The feminists of the Politiqu'elles association denounce this scandal. “Many artists found or presumed guilty are rehabilitated by society and continue to be honoured. » I remind you that the Polanski affair dates back to 1977 and that its victim has been asking American justice for years to close the case.
But the deepest reason for this extension of the field of harassment is precisely anti-racism. Marlène Schiappa affirms it: “Sexual harassment exists as much on Boulevard Saint-Germain as in La Chapelle-Pajol, even if it is less visible. » What is harassment that you don't or barely see? A lustful look, a salacious joke, a sentence rich in innuendo, an indecent proposal? To erase the aggressions of Cologne and to make people forget that it is not the Flore, but certain cafés in Sevran or Rillieux-la-Pape that are forbidden to women, we come to criminalize ambiguity in human relationships. The time is near when the man who has had a sexual relationship with a woman can be prosecuted for harassment even if he has obtained her tacit consent. "We must get out of the unsaid and the non-refusal", writes the philosopher Manon Garcia very seriously. And she invites us to follow the example of Californian universities which are obliged, if they want to receive public subsidies, to include positive consent in their internal regulations. " This comes back, writes Manon Garcia, to reverse the burden of proof. It is no longer up to the victim to prove that there has been harassment, but up to the aggressor to provide proof of consent communicated in the clearest possible way. » Hunt down the implicit, put an end to chiaroscuro, replace connotations with contracts in good and due form, in short establish, over the rubble of literature, the undivided reign of transparency: such is the final objective of the new egalitarian utopia. And France, which was, for David Hume, for Henry James and for Isaac Babel, the country of women, is invited by its vigilant avant-garde to shed, once and for all, its singularity and to become, in the name of the fight against discrimination, a disciplined province of neo-puritan America.
The passion of progressives is rehabilitation
Interviewed on France Info in the midst of turmoil, Bruno Le Maire, our Minister of the Economy, had this cry from the heart: “Whistleblowing is not part of my political identity. » Duly chaptered by the Head of State or by his wife, he reappeared, a few hours later, on a video to say, quite sheepishly: “I explained myself badly, I'm sorry, I should have reacted more strongly to the problem of harassment. »
Through this public self-criticism, the comrade joined humanity on the march. Freed from his prejudices, he sees clearly. He will therefore be forgiven, and will be with him all the recalcitrant if they follow his example. Because, as evidenced by the royal place occupied by the word "pedagogy" in current political discourse, the passion of progressives is re-education. So I know what I have to do.
Through this public self-criticism, the comrade joined humanity on the march. Freed from his prejudices, he sees clearly. He will therefore be forgiven, and will be with him all the recalcitrant if they follow his example. Because, as evidenced by the royal place occupied by the word "pedagogy" in current political discourse, the passion of progressives is re-education. So I know what I have to do.
