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ME TOO

French woman who launched #MeToo in France sued for slander

The US-based French journalist behind France's answer to the #MeToo campaign said she was being sued for slander by the man she accused of lewd remarks in a post that triggered a deluge of similar harassment accounts.

Published: 19 January 2018 08:28 CET
French woman who launched #MeToo in France sued for slander
Sandra Muller, US-based French journalist. AFP

Sandra Muller started the #balancetonporc (Squeal on your pig) movement in response to the wave of abuse allegations that toppled movie producer Harvey Weinstein.

In a Twitter post on October 13, she told of how senior French TV executive Eric Brion had humiliated her, saying: “You have big breasts. You are my type of woman. I will make you orgasm all night.”

The post led to an outpouring of tales of harassment and assault, which were hailed as ending a culture of permissiveness in France towards unwanted advances.

But on Thursday Muller said that after publicly apologising for his remarks, Brion had “changed tack” and decided to launch legal action against her.

“I have been issued with a summons, in which Mr Brion demands 50,000 euros in damages for defamation, the publishing of the ruling and 10,000 euros in legal fees,” she wrote in a Facebook post.

A defiant Muller, who was listed among the “silence breakers” named by Time magazine as Person of the Year in 2017, said she would “see this fight through to the end”.

“#balancetonporc has allowed victims to make their voices heard and shed light on a real societal problem that remains taboo,” she said.

“I hope the trial will provide an opportunity to have a real debate about how to combat sexual harassment,” she said, accusing Brion of “trying to silence me”.

Her lawyer Alexis Guedj told AFP that Brion had filed a court summons for defamation in Paris on January 10, but a hearing date has yet to be set.

'Court of social media'

In an opinion article in Le Monde newspaper on December 30, Brion admitted making “inappropriate remarks to Sandra Muller” at a cocktail party.

“I fancied her. I told her so, in a heavyhanded manner,” he said, offering an apology.

But he also accused Muller of “deliberately creating ambiguity about what happened” by accusing him in a call to name and shame workplace tormentors, and by linking it to the response to the Weinstein affair.

Insisting he had never worked with Muller, Brion said: “The personal and professional consequences of this conflation of heavyhanded flirting and sexual harassment 'in the workplace' were very serious and damaging.”

Brion said he had received insults over the incident and found it “nearly impossible” to find work as a result of Muller's tweets.

He added he would have “much preferred” to be tried by a court instead of by the “court of social media”.

A group of prominent French women, led by film star Catherine Deneuve, sparked international controversy last week by defending a man's right to “bother” women.

In a letter in Le Monde, the women complained that the campaign against harassment had become “puritanical”.

CARS

‘Car explainers’ outnumber ‘booth babes’ at this year’s Geneva Motor Show

Long synonymous with scantily-clad women draped over pricey vehicles, this year's Geneva Motor Show is almost void of 'booth babes', as automakers strive to polish their images following the #MeToo movement.

Published: 9 March 2018 08:55 CET
'Car explainers' outnumber 'booth babes' at this year's Geneva Motor Show
Photo: Harold Cunningham/AFP
Carmakers have for several years been scaling back the use of skin-flashing models to draw in an overwhelmingly male audience at events like the one in Geneva.
   
But the trend seems to have gained significant steam in a world reeling from recent revelations of sexual abuse, harassment and discrimination across all industries and growing demands from women for respect and equality.
   
“I'm very glad because we are not objects,” said Julie, a hostess wearing a knee-length beige dress and heels at one of the stands in Geneva.
   
“I'm not there to just smile and show my body,” the young woman, who did not wish to give her last name, told AFP.
   
She was among a new brand of 'car explainers', who this year by far outnumbered the dozen women working as models only on the show's floor.
   
These young men and women are trained by the companies to provide technical explanations about the vehicles on display, and appear to adhere to a clear dress code: trousers or long skirts topped with long-sleeved shirts and jackets.
   
“I have noticed that the skirts are a bit longer and that you see less skin than in previous years,” Olivier Wittmann, who heads Renault's Swiss branch, told AFP.
 
A 'car explainer' at the Geneva Motor Show. Photo: Harold Cunningham/AFP
 
There continue to be a few outliers, including luxury Italian brand Manifattura Automobili Torino, which has this year again staffed its stand with models in short-short dresses and thigh-high boots.
   
One of the women towering over a nifty little Manifattura sports car is Italian model Eva Squillari, who told AFP she saw no problem with modelling at the show.
   
“It's my work, so I always pose for photographers. And I'm not naked so there's nothing wrong with this,” she said.
   
Squillari, who has been modelling for eight years and is at the Geneva show for the second year running, said she did not believe she or other women were “objectified” at the car show.
   
“It's a very friendly show so there's a lot of respect for models who are posing here,” she said.
   
Two young women in short dresses were also posing for pictures at Swiss tire-maker Cooper Tires' stand.
   
“Trying to make a tire look sexy is a challenge,” one of the managers at the stand, who asked not to be named, told AFP.
   
“Men like to take pictures of women,” he said, pointing out that “every car that was on TV was with a girl in front.”
   
“This has always been part of the masculine world of car shows,” he added.
   
But that view was clearly in the minority at this year's show.
   
At Renault for instance, Wittmann said the decision had been reached years ago to change its show strategy and focus on competence over sex appeal.
   
“When we recruit hosts and hostesses for the show, what we are interested in is the (candidate's) capacity to be a good car explainer and to promote our products,” he said.
   
He said the French automaker had added more men and had basically attained gender parity at its booth.
 
'Vulgar, unwanted comments' 
 
Toyota's marketing chief Fabio Capano also said his company had “always” focused on training booth workers to explain the merchandise.
   
“The key point is to be able to explain the product,” he said, adding that there had in any case always been less focus on skin at the European car fairs.
   
“Europe has always been classy, if you compare to other shows around the world.”
   
A number of people at the Geneva show voiced support for the shift underway, and also hailed Formula One's recent decision to dispense with so-called grid girls in the lead-up to races.
   
“Customs change, but I think that is a necessity,” Wittmann said.
   
The stands of Italian carmakers Fiat and Alfa Romeo meanwhile continued to employ mainly women to showcase their vehicles.
   
But the women were modestly dressed, and Fiat Chrysler chief Sergio Marchionne told reporters he did not think “we are being offensive to anybody with this”.
   
While hailing the shifts underway, some of the women on the floor stressed that sexism was still alive and well at car shows like the one in Geneva.
   
One car explainer, who refused to give her name, said she had received a number of “vulgar and unwanted comments”.
   
“And sometimes clients ask to speak with a man, since they are apparently more competent…” she said.