There was uproar in the French parliament this week when a deputy made sexist clucking noises during a speech by a female Green Party MP. France's government spokeswoman said deputies cannot control their behaviour after downing too much booze at dinner.
Female Socialist MPs in the French parliament staged a walk-out on Wednesday in a protest against sexism. Their boycott of the opening ofparliament came a day after a 'tipsy' UMP deputy provoked uproar when he made sexist chicken noises at a female MP as she made a speech, causing the parliamentary debate to be suspended.
On Tuesday, as the new pensions bill was being discussed in the lower house, Veronique Massoneau was abused by a deputy from the UMP ranks as she presented her amendment.
The deputy, who has not been named, blatantly tried to ruffle Massoneau's feathers when he began making clucking noises, which in turn provoked a furious response from his victim.
“Stop! That’s enough! I am not a chicken,” Massoneau blurted out in anger. The incident was widely denounced as sexist in a country where the word chicken ('poule') is often used as a derogatory term for women.
The leader of the National Assembly Claude Bartelone was furious and denounced the “incredible behaviour”.
But the clucking noises continued throughout Massoneau’s speech, forcing Bartelone to suspend the session.
“There are things I will never accept in this chamber,” said Bartelone. “One of them is deputies pretending to be birds when a Member of Parliament is speaking. It is not acceptable.
“There are certain things which fall within our collective responsibility, so don’t be surprised if the populist parties gain more votes when the public sees their elected representatives behaving like this."
This is not the first time French MPs have failed to cover themselves in glory during a parliamentary debate.
Last year Housing Minister Cécile Duflot was wolf-whistled when she stood up to speak wearing a floral dress.
“We were just admiring her,” UMP deputy Patrick Balkany told French daily Le Figaro at the time. “If she didn’t want us to take an interest in her, then she shouldn’t have changed her look.”
Following the clucking incident, France's government spokeswoman complained on Wednesday of lawmakers partaking in too many "boozy dinners".
"It is regrettable that some people have difficulty maintaining an attitude that is consistent with their functions after obviously boozy dinners," government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said after a cabinet session.
Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti also denounced the incident as "deplorable".
"Unfortunately we've seen this before," she said. "It shows that we have to continue to fight to have women politicians respected."
Bartelone has not named the clucking UMP deputy and a video of the debate broadcast by the National Aseembly website failed to identify the chicken imitator.
However co-Chair of the French Greens group François de Rugy pointed the finger in a tweet at UMP deputy Philippe Le Ray.
Speaking to the Nouvel Observateur news site on Wednesday Massoneau hit out a culture of sexism among French MPs.
“This shows the difficulty a man has to live with equality,” she said referring to Le Ray, who Massoneau said has since apologised.
“I do not want to generalise, I work very well with a lot of men but it is always women who are on the end of this type of disrespect. For some of them it is spontaneous. It’s serious because they don’t even realise,” Massoneau added.
“He continued even after being told to stop. Being tipsy is not an excuse. It just shows the deep rooted sexist attitudes in them,” she added.
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| Photos: Richard Ying/Tangui Morlier/Wikimedia/S. McGarnigle |
On Tuesday, as the new pensions bill was being discussed in the lower house, Veronique Massoneau was abused by a deputy from the UMP ranks as she presented her amendment.
The deputy, who has not been named, blatantly tried to ruffle Massoneau's feathers when he began making clucking noises, which in turn provoked a furious response from his victim.
“Stop! That’s enough! I am not a chicken,” Massoneau blurted out in anger. The incident was widely denounced as sexist in a country where the word chicken ('poule') is often used as a derogatory term for women.
The leader of the National Assembly Claude Bartelone was furious and denounced the “incredible behaviour”.
But the clucking noises continued throughout Massoneau’s speech, forcing Bartelone to suspend the session.
“There are things I will never accept in this chamber,” said Bartelone. “One of them is deputies pretending to be birds when a Member of Parliament is speaking. It is not acceptable.
“There are certain things which fall within our collective responsibility, so don’t be surprised if the populist parties gain more votes when the public sees their elected representatives behaving like this."
This is not the first time French MPs have failed to cover themselves in glory during a parliamentary debate.
Last year Housing Minister Cécile Duflot was wolf-whistled when she stood up to speak wearing a floral dress.
“We were just admiring her,” UMP deputy Patrick Balkany told French daily Le Figaro at the time. “If she didn’t want us to take an interest in her, then she shouldn’t have changed her look.”
Following the clucking incident, France's government spokeswoman complained on Wednesday of lawmakers partaking in too many "boozy dinners".
"It is regrettable that some people have difficulty maintaining an attitude that is consistent with their functions after obviously boozy dinners," government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said after a cabinet session.
Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti also denounced the incident as "deplorable".
"Unfortunately we've seen this before," she said. "It shows that we have to continue to fight to have women politicians respected."
Bartelone has not named the clucking UMP deputy and a video of the debate broadcast by the National Aseembly website failed to identify the chicken imitator.
However co-Chair of the French Greens group François de Rugy pointed the finger in a tweet at UMP deputy Philippe Le Ray.
Speaking to the Nouvel Observateur news site on Wednesday Massoneau hit out a culture of sexism among French MPs.
“This shows the difficulty a man has to live with equality,” she said referring to Le Ray, who Massoneau said has since apologised.
“I do not want to generalise, I work very well with a lot of men but it is always women who are on the end of this type of disrespect. For some of them it is spontaneous. It’s serious because they don’t even realise,” Massoneau added.
“He continued even after being told to stop. Being tipsy is not an excuse. It just shows the deep rooted sexist attitudes in them,” she added.