French PM Edouard Philippe’s ‘sexist’ views found in racy novel

French PM Edouard Philippe has drawn feminist ire for using sexist stereotypes in a racy thriller he wrote.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, centre, in Paris. Picture: AFP

Edouard Philippe, France’s new Prime Minister, has drawn feminist ire for failing to support socially liberal causes and for using sexist stereotypes in a racy thriller he wrote.

Two feminist groups attacked Mr Philippe, 46, a conservative who was appointed by Emmanuel Macron on Monday, over his voting record as MP for Le Havre. He voted against penalising the clients of prostitutes and abstained from voting on a bill to approve gay marriage, which passed in 2013. He also abstained from voting on the law to approve adoption by gay couples.

Mr Philippe had shown that “male-female equality is not a priority”, Osez le Feminisme (Dare to be Feminist) said. The group and Les Effrontees (The Brazen Women) questioned whether Mr Philippe would keep Mr Macron’s promise to introduce medically assisted reproduction for all women.

Mr Philippe was also the target of scorn on social media after the circulation of passages from Dans l’Ombre (In the Shade), a novel about a presidential campaign.

He wrote the book, his second novel, with Gilles Boyer, campaign manager for Alain Juppe, who was the early conservative favourite for the presidency won by Mr Macron.

In language that L’Express magazine called “erotico-sexist”, the book’s narrator describes his approach to one-night stands: “I can’t stand the idea of having breakfast with a woman with whom I’ve just spent the night.”

He describes a female politician as having “that imperceptible dryness of women who will never be mothers ... which makes her a redoubtable politician: a heart of a man in the body of a woman”.

The narrator also devotes a paragraph to the importance of breasts: “A real bosom is round and comfortable. You have to be able to put your nose into the middle with jubilation.”

Mr Macron had vowed to preside over an administration free of the sexism that has long tainted French political life. He said for months that he hoped to appoint a female prime minister but did not deliver, the feminist groups noted. He had promised that half his new ministry, announced late last night, would be women.

“The discovery of this book will somewhat cool relations between the women and their boss,” L’Express said.

The Times