Paris WorldWide #9

à la diaphane Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet
! » Quitte à gommer le
fond du débat politique au profit de
la forme, et à faire passer la femme
politique pour une simple figurante.
Sandrine Rousseau se souvient par
exemple de cette conférence tenue
devant un parterre de 500 chefs
d’entreprise. L’animateur appelle à
la tribune les premiers intervenants,
deux hommes, en citant leur prénom,
leur nom et leur titre. Et quand
vient son tour, elle n’a droit qu’à un
simple « Sandrine ». « J’ai dû lui demander
de refaire une présentation
plus complète ! » Dans son livre, l’élue passe surtout
en revue les solutions pour mettre fin à ces
inégalités : « D’abord, sortir du rôle dans lequel
on nous attend. Par exemple celui de la femme
qui pleure ou qui se met en colère quand elle est
confrontée à une remarque sexiste. Et aussi développer
une solidarité entre femmes, à travers
les réseaux féminins par exemple ».
Tania Cosentino,
présidente de Shneider
Electric pour l’Amérique
du Sud.
Tania Cosentino,
President of Schneider
Electric in South
America.
Seuls 16 % des maires
français sont
des femmes
Only 16% of French
mayors are women
© Schneider Electric
80 - paris Worldwide septembre/octobre
september/october 2015
Kosciusko-Morizet!” Even if this meant
leaving out political debate in favor of
image and turning female politicians
into façades. Likewise, Rousseau recalls
a conference she participated in with
an audience of 500 business leaders.
The presenter first called two male
participants to the podium, citing their
surname, name and title. When her
turn came, she was referred to only as
Sandrine. “I had to ask him to start over
with a more complete presentation!”
In her book, Rousseau, as an elected
official, reviews the ways to end these
inequalities: “First, get out of the role
we are expected to have: the woman who cries or
gets angry when confronted with a sexist remark.
And develop solidarity among women, through
women’s networks, for example.”
An increasing number of women’s networks have
been created to help facilitate women’s access to the
highest levels of business or political life, some offering
discussion groups and training. Each year in
France, the Journées Nationales des Femmes Elues
(National Days of Elected Women) assemble some
500 participants from across the political spectrum.
“They come with a dilemma: how to seize power
while remaining themselves,” explains Julia Mouzon,
the event’s organizer. «I remember a meeting
between two women. One said to the other: ‘I was
elected by mistake.’ And the other replied, ‘What a
coincidence, so was I!’ We are here to remind them
of their legitimacy, that they can talk about any topic:
the status of women in politics, territorial reform,
the United Nations Conference on Climate Change,
digital technology, etc.”
The tenth Women’s Forum will be held in Deauville,
France, from October 14-16. Each year, this international
event invites emblematic female leaders
from every continent. Past invitees have included
the Burmese opposition leader and Nobel Peace
Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and Brazilian Tania
Cosentino, president of Schneider Electric in South
America. This year, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, the
renowned chemist and newly elected President of
Mauritius, will speak alongside Theo Sowa, CEO
of the African Women’s Development Fund, and
singer Barbara Hendricks. With 80 percent women
participants and 20 percent men participants, “The
Women’s Forum’s central idea is opening up to the
world,” emphasizes Clara Gaymard, president of
General Electric France and head of the Women’s
Forum. “The idea is not to focus specifically on the
theme of women, but to convey a woman’s perspective
on all of the world’s current issues. In the next
edition, issues as diverse as the frugal economy,
advanced medicine, drones and crowdfunding will
be discussed.”