Letter From Paris
Paris Kiosque - May 2006 - Volume 13, Number 5
Copyright © 2006 Harriet Welty-Rochefort - Used with permission.
Segolene Royal, the elegant charismatic 52-year-old French Socialist Deputy,
president of the southwestern Poitou Charentes region, and former minister who
is running for President of France, has announced she's planning a meeting with
Hillary Clinton in June.
My little finger tells me they're going to have a lot to talk about.
In spite of different countries and different languages, the two have a lot in
common. Both are highly intelligent, attractive politicians in - whether you like
it or not - a man's world, especially in France where women only obtained the
right to vote in 1944 and represent a mere 12 per cent of the deputies in the
National Assembly, one of the lowest percentages in Europe.
In fact, so macho is the French political scene that when Segolene announced
last September that she might run in the May 2007 Presidential election, one of
her male Socialist colleagues, former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius queried :
« Who will look after the children ? » Jack Lang, former Socialist
Minister of Education and himself a contender for the Presidency, huffed that
« The presidential race is not a beauty contest. »
Segolene's « coming out » has in fact totally destablized the Old White
Male Guard who rarely have women challengers and when they do, manage to
make short work of them. This time, though, their little boy inside jokes and
asides aren't taking ; they've had to rethink their strategy - and change their
language, in public at least - as Segolene has soared in the polls.
France may be a conservative country - to wit, last year's resounding
« non » to the referendum on the European Union and this year's massive
« non » to a proposed law to loosen up rigid labor laws that set off a month
of demonstrations. At the same time, the French, who are so fearful about
globalization and risk and the future, seem to have no qualms about a woman for
President.
Not just any woman. What is it about Segolene Royal that has everyone going
around in circles and four magazines in the same week devoting cover stories to
her ? Who is this woman who has singlehandedly breathed new life into the
stagnant halls of French politics ? Can she be compared in any way to Hillary
Clinton, a politican she admires and plans to meet soon ?
In terms of intelligence, for sure. Hillary has sterling educational credentials
and a sharp mind. Segolene was trained at the exclusive Ecole Nationale
d'Administration (ENA) that produced French Presidents Jacques Chirac and
Giscard d'Estaing. Like Hillary, she's got brains in bundles. Like Hillary, she
doesn't really suffer fools - whether they're in the opposing camp or her own.
In terms of the way they started and managed their political careers, Hillary and
Segolene differ slightly. Hillary was a brilliant Yale law student with big
ambitions when she met Bill and hitched herself to his star. Although she had
her own career as a lawyer and was in the spotlight as First Lady, it took her
years to come into her own as a Senator. Segolene met François Hollande, the
father of her four children, when both were students at the prestigious Institut
d'Etudes Politiques, « Sciences Po ». Some sources say that at that time
Segolene didn't want a career in politics and it was François who convinced her
to take that path. The Royal-Hollande team went on to built their separate
political careers in the French Socialist Party of which Hollande is the leader. (In
an ironic twist, if Hollande decides to join the race, he'll be pitting himself
against his own partner - which only makes the suspense greater.)
Although Hillary wanted to remain Hillary Rodham, she had to give in to
«Clinton» as the price to pay to get him elected. Royal has not
kept her maiden name for one good reason. She simply never bothered to marry
François Hollande, She insists that they're together by choice, not because of a
piece of paper. In some ways, it's a rebellious act for someone who has nothing
of the bohemian about her.
The fourth daughter of the eight children of a French military officier , Segolene
was born in Senegal and brought up in a strict household. She escaped by
doing well at school, entering ENA, and adhering to the Socialist Party,
working her way up through the ranks. Like Hillary, Segolene is a mother and a
devoted one, shunning glittering dinner parties in Paris to be with her family.
When her youngest daughter Flora, now 14, was born, she nettled her male
colleagues by allowing photographers to take pictures of her and the new baby
at the hospital. They thought it was normal for them to appear in magazines with
their wives but not a woman with her baby ! Segolene's cool reply ? She said
she thought the French would be interested to see someone who manages to
juggle two full-time jobs. Touché ! Over the years, this pretty (let's deal with
this once and for all - Segolene IS pretty, even at times glamorous, as well as
feminine and bright which is surely why her male colleagues are so inordinately
threatened by her) politician continued to make sure she's in the public eye, a
strategy that's paid off well in terms of recognition.
Opinions about Segolene differ. Her friends see her as an intelligent, warm,
open person. Her enemies see her as cold, distant, and authoritarian. In the
Poitou Charente region, which she rules with a big smile and an iron hand, she's
known for wanting to go fast and do things - her way. As one pundit phrased it,
«for some, she's like Uma Thurman in «Kill Bill»,
cutting her adversaries in two with a sword of publicity ... for others, she's a kind
of a Saint Therèse de Lisieux, who provokes an irrational devotion.»
However that may be, she's ahead in the polls and the French are clearly excited
about the prospect of a woman President. Not only that, but a debate between
the less experienced but attractive and combative Socialist Segolene and the
baldly ambitious and controversial right wing leader Nicolas Sarkozy would, at
the very least, provide some first-class entertainment.
And her ideas ? In her typically maverick but calculated style, Segolene is
putting them down in book form online so she can integrate the observations and
comments of her readers into the print edition which will come out in
September. Other than that, she clearly thinks it's premature to get too specific.
Her critics seize on that to say that the packaging is pretty but the bottle is
empty.
Madame Royal will indeed have to work on what's inside the bottle if she's to
be any match for others with more experience in her own party, or a contender
on the right, especially if it's Nicolas Sarkozy, whose ideas may be admired or
reviled, but are, at least, clearly and widely known.
The French may be ready for a woman President, but they'll vote for her ideas,
not her gender.
Meanwhile, Segolene's being in the running, and in the news, is a positively
palpitating event in the boring old male-dominated world of French politics.
Definitely, as the French say, «une affaire à suivre».
Harriet Welty Rochefort is the author of
French Toast: An American in Paris Celebrates the Maddening Mysteries of the French and
French Fried: The Culinary Capers of an American in Paris.
French Toast was hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "wise and devastatingly
funny". For world-famous chef Alain Ducasse, her second book French Fried
"in a lively and hilarious style ... gives an inside look at the world of
French cuisine and wine." Both books are published by St. Martin's Press.
Coming to Paris? Harriet gives
tailormade wine and cheese tastings to individuals as well as to university
groups. For more information, visit her webpages:
www.hwelty.com and
www.understandfrance.com .
Is French-bashing passé? Or alive and well?
If you have encountered examples of French-bashing in the media or elsewhere, feel free
to contact Harriet at
harriet.welty@hwelty.com.
Editor's Note:
Dear Readers, while our writers are always
delighted to hear and to receive comments, both about their columns in the The Paris Kiosque,
as well as your experiences in Paris,
they are unable to answer requests for travel information.
Thank you for your understanding.
