Second sex eyes power in France

[dutchdemocrat]

Second sex eyes power in France

A new book of interviews with wives of politicians says time is ripe for a woman President, writes Paul Webster in Paris

Sunday December 28, 2003
The Observer

After two centuries of shackling feminine political ambition, France is at last giving way to a militant sexual revolution that could see a woman President within 10 years, according to a new book which reveals a growing female urge for power.
The Christmas non-fiction bestseller, Leurs femmes (Their wives), written by a leading political journalist, shows that French women are exploiting the government and party offices of their husbands to influence decisions behind the scenes and prepare their own political careers.

The author, Paris-Match journalist Elisabeth Chavelet, says that the new confidence among career women has been inspired largely by the status of Hillary Clinton, who owes much of her political rise to the celebrity she achieved in her role as a White House wife. Chavelet quotes Bernadette Chirac, the French President's wife, who has become a policy maker in her own right, as saying she hoped Clinton would be elected next year because it would serve the women's cause worldwide.

Already several names are being discussed for the 2005 and 2012 French presidential elections, although they are still often presented as wives of politicians rather than potential candidates in their own right. Among them are Ségolène Royal, four times a Minister, whose partner is the Socialist Party leader François Hollande, and Cécilia Sarkozy, wife of the dynamic Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy.

<SNIP?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,11882,1113247,00.html

[xchrom]

1. bravo!

hope i see it happen!

[kayell]

2. I hate that term Headline editors can be such idiots

"Second sex" indeed, assumes that men are the "first sex". It is really sad how far we STILL have to go when that kind of phrase is acceptable as a headline.

[lanlady]

3. Not really. "Second Sex" is the title of a famous book--

--by French feminist Simone de Beauvoir.

[Skittles]

4. yes but

wasn't she trying to PROVE A POINT? "Second sex" as in there IS ONE ?