“There is still so much to do!“
Postpartum depression, women in politics, education, transmission, future projects… MP Prisca Thévenot testifies without filter in Webedia's new original interview format, “La parole”, on the YouTube channel ” In private with”. The former government spokesperson and minister responsible for democratic renewal in France has decided to break taboos.
Particularly when it comes to sexism that is still too trivialized: that which persists from the hemicycle to TV sets.
“The biggest lesson I have learned as a woman in politics is that there is still much work to be done. As a reminder, the first woman elected president of the National Assembly was in 2022, with the appointment of Yaël Braun-Pivet. In 2022!”thus tackles the current MP in this interview.
But how can we explain that things are moving so little or rather so slowly? The regional councilor of Île-de-France has an idea about this unfathomable mystery…
“People think I’m mean just because I don’t smile!” : Prisca Thévenot tackles sexism
Sexism in politics, an inevitability?
No. But a reality, that, quite naturally. “Who are responsible for this situation? All of us!”continues Prisca Thévenot on this subject, observing in passing not without irony: “I see that politics has made it possible to change many things regarding the condition of women… In the private sector. But not in politics!”.
And the MP sees this as the effect of a general representation that is very stigmatizing for women, from political spheres to the media (where women are still too rare). Not to mention, full of stereotypes bordering on misogyny. We also say that a personality like Sandrine Rousseau knows something about it.
“When you are a woman in politics, you will always be judged, commented on…”testifies Prisca Thévenot, …qualified as hysterical, simply because we are tired on a TV set… Criticized on the form and never on the substance: 'oh she has gained weight', 'oh, she looks mean'… Does this happen to men? Tell them if they lost weight, gained weight, if they cut their hair?
A speech that reflects the testimonies of many women in politics. We think, for example, of this deciphering of trivialized sexism in the National Assembly. Voices of deputies mocked, discredited, representatives and elected officials reduced to their outfit, their physique, or interrupted by sexist cries…
On the subject of physique, moreover, the MP admits something about her own relationship to the body: “My teeth are still a big problem, my canines stick out really badly. That's why I don't always dare to smile. People think I'm mean because of that. But I just don't dare show my teeth!“
A trivial detail that reveals the way in which women, even in politics, are constantly reduced to their appearance, and constantly reduced to their own complexes. And for the former spokesperson, we must never underestimate this social issue, far from being trivial.
“I am convinced that this is a long-term subject, it is not because we have made progress that we must move on and wash our hands of it. We must remain vigilant about the place of women in politics, because we can always be taken back.”
Less political but just as intimate, another subject is addressed directly by the interviewee, a big taboo this one: postpartum depression. From which Prisca Thévenot suffered, for two long and painful years, listening to him. “When we have a baby in our arms, when we give birth for the first time, when he starts to cry, we don't always have the codes to know what to do. We don't have instructions. And so it's normal to not be well. Everything is not always perfect like in a TV series…”
“I talk about it with a smile because I came back from it!“
A very personal testimony that we invite you to find in full on the YouTube channel “In private with”.
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