Miss Kolka

"Do what you like"

No I'm not going talk about how thin french women are, how they do it with their pouty mouth or discuss their dating habits, which, according to some british media (!), are not good enough . I read an article a long time ago saying that you could forget having fun on a date with a french woman since she always tries to stay on top of things, smart, intelligent, cute and sexy, without ever loosing control of herself. " No, just one glass of wine for me thank you".

Im not going to talk about these things because a) I am a french woman (in some respect) and b) even if these "clichés" are right to some extent (and believe me, I KNOW) my worries are elsewhere.

One of the most talked-about french woman right now is Segolene Royal, which is normal since she is in the middle of her presidential campagne. And of course, like any other candidate, her every move is closely followed and scrutinised. And not less by women themselves. It is the first time a woman could actually become the president of France. (mind you...other countries have set good examples such as Iceland, Chile and Finland). However, I don't think her sex should be the only reason for her success. I don't want a woman president at any cost, its the performance that counts. But until now, performance often seems to be measured by pre-made standards of a rather masculin world. And when a woman enters that world we often hear comments about her appearence - what she is wearing, how old she looks, and wonder how she got to where she is AND managed to have 4 children. A working mother? We are after all in 2007.

Alright, she seems to have a vision on child-care for working people (which is badly needed here in France - where 70% of children under the age of 3 are staying at home with one of the parent - most often the mother - and then we ask ourselves why companies dont want to hire women around the age of 30) and she did participate in introducing paternity leave in France (which I think is only 2-4 weeks - still some room for progress). Royal says she is a feminist but it is open to question whether many of her campaign issues are "women-friendly" - (or should I say - good for the equality of the sexes) such as her tough views on military issues. What annoys me is her insistance that she is different because she is a woman. That still remains to be seen. And what does that mean?

I most certainly would vote for a man that would introduce a program for equality, for people of different sexes, colour, races and sexuality. For someone who listens to others and is not afrad of changing his mind if convinced by others. If he would agree that there is something wrong when women are close to 50% of the workforce but always under-represented in the media (in France - quotations by women in the press are only 17%) and they more often than not do not land high seats in commities. Out of 75 daily newspapers in France - until yesterday, there were no women executives. The same often applies in economic institutions for executive positions.

Its funny, because these are not just numbers. When I am at work and there are 2-3 english-speaking journalists (and if these happen to be all girls, due to coincidence) we often encounter problems in translating the soundbites, that is quotations of MEN.. because there is no english-speaking man around. And Most of the soundbites are by men. I should maybe do a little test to night. to see how many women were truly quoted. - to be continued.

All this to repeat myself once again.. While women are almost the sole care-taker of young children and encounter inequality at home, I don't think we can progress that much at work either. And it just makes me laugh when I hear women say "well, women will just have to try harder". Enough already. It's time things change around here. And that we start talking about how the guys look - and how on earth they find time for their family with all their time going into politics. Who's taking care of the children?