Tribune. It has become a habit, almost a must. When male violence committed by Muslim or immigrant men makes headlines in the media, editorial writers and political figures immediately summon feminists, accusing them in turn of silence or inaction.
Men rape, assault and kill, and yet it is the feminists that we
pointed.
This rhetoric is not new, it is remembered for its use during the mass sexual violence committed in Cologne (Germany) during the New Year 2016, but it nevertheless seems to be gaining popularity in recent months. We find it in an article by Eugénie Bastié, which headlines “Rape in the middle of the street in Paris: where are the feminists? », Or in the slogan “Afghan women sacrificed, the cowardice of feminists”, assaulted by the conservative politician Nicolas Dupont-Aignan on social networks.
As the feminist movement and its demands become more and more visible, the will to counterattack at the slightest opportunity also grows; this is what American feminist Susan Faludi called the “Backlash” [« retour de bâton »].
The goals served by this anti-feminist rhetoric are multiple, on the one hand to divide feminists and police our speech, to reverse the guilt of male violence against women and finally to use the feminist movement for racist and misogynistic ends. The organizers of these “feminist Olympics” divide the activists into two categories: the good and the bad feminists, the good ones obviously being those who agree with them on the topic of the day.
A patriarchal strategy
Not only would it be up to these polemicists to determine the subjects on which we are summoned to work, but it would also be their privilege to determine what are the right or wrong answers, a well-worn method to control the political voice of women.
The other purpose of this catchphrase is quite simply to reverse the guilt of acts committed by men, against women, through a patriarchal strategy no less well-worn. Very practical tool so as not to have to question the patriarchal dimension of this violence and what they say about male domination.
Men raping women in the streets? But what are feminists doing! Are the Taliban terrorizing Afghan women? But where have the feminists gone? A teenage girl is the victim of sexist and lesbophobic cyberbullying, whose fault is it? To feminists of course!
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