A defense of importunate sex-seeking

Of "gallantry".

Of "flirting".

Indeed, of persistent sex-seeking, even to the point of being a real and very annoying pest.

Including some roaming of the hands.

Though of course not of violence or coercion.

Catherine Deneuve and Others Denounce the #MeToo Movement

Just one day after Hollywood offered a show of support for the #MeToo movement on the Golden Globes red carpet and stage, a famous actress on the other side of the Atlantic lent her name to a public letter denouncing the movement, as well as its French counterpart, #Balancetonporc, or “Expose Your Pig.”

Catherine Deneuve joined more than 100 other Frenchwomen in entertainment, publishing and academic fields Tuesday in the pages of the newspaper Le Monde and on its website in arguing that the two movements, in which women and men have used social media as a forum to describe sexual misconduct, have gone too far by publicly prosecuting private experiences and have created a totalitarian climate.

“Rape is a crime. But insistent or clumsy flirting is not a crime, nor is gallantry a chauvinist aggression,” the letter, dated Monday, begins. “As a result of the Weinstein affair, there has been a legitimate realization of the sexual violence women experience, particularly in the workplace, where some men abuse their power. It was necessary. But now this liberation of speech has been turned on its head.”

They contend that the #MeToo movement has led to a campaign of public accusations that have placed undeserving people in the same category as sex offenders without giving them a chance to defend themselves. 

“This expedited justice already has its victims, men prevented from practicing their profession as punishment, forced to resign, etc., while the only thing they did wrong was touching a knee, trying to steal a kiss, or speaking about ‘intimate’ things at a work dinner, or sending messages with sexual connotations to a woman whose feelings were not mutual,” they write. 

The letter, written in French was translated here by The New York Times.

And who is surprised that this comes from French women?

The Times story links to this site, at which the letter castigates and rejects a type of feminism with "the face of hatred of men and of sexuality".

En tant que femmes, nous ne nous reconnaissons pas dans ce féminisme qui, au-delà de la dénonciation des abus de pouvoir, prend le visage d’une haine des hommes et de la sexualité. 

Nous pensons que la liberté de dire non à une proposition sexuelle ne va pas sans la liberté d’importuner. 

Et nous considérons qu’il faut savoir répondre à cette liberté d’importuner autrement qu’en s’enfermant dans le rôle de la proie.