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Paul Varry was a young 27-year-old Parisian cyclist. He was run over by an SUV after pointing out to the driver of the vehicle that his foot was stuck under its wheel. And this while the SUV was on the cycle path.
A real drama currently being processed in court at the time of writing (a 52-year-old man has been indicted for murder and placed in pre-trial detention), but which has already sparked outrage, demonstrations in the capital, and cries of alarm.
“He was banging on the car saying “I can’t move, my foot is stuck”. He backed up a little and cocked to the left. He was really ready to go there. I saw his head go under the wheel, it was traumatic. No one can survive this!“, an anonymous witness recently declared on this subject at the microphone of RTL radio.
But while voices are being raised to denounce the treatment of two-wheelers in Paris and advocate a ban on SUVs, this terrible affair also brings us back to very real gender issues…
SUV and virility: when Paul Varry’s drama illustrates very real gender reflections
What if this news item shed light on another form of drama?
Many actually see this murder as an expression of toxic masculinity: the use of a vehicle like the SUV, in front of a bicycle, as an affirmation of misplaced virility.
This is also what the content creator “Living less stupid” highlights on TikTok, in the space of a widely relayed and commented video: “Paul’s murder is not just a story of road violence against cyclists. The one who ran over Paul Varry was a man who was driving a Mercedes SUV.”
“But a study showed us that 80% of motorists who adopt dangerous behavior are men. What’s more, driving a Mercedes SUV means taking on an imposing vehicle, denoting a certain high social status. It gives the driver a feeling of power and superiority which leads to dangerous and disrespectful attitudes while driving…”
“So it’s a matter of masculinitysocial status and appropriation of public space“
A gender analysis which refers to the ecofeminist reflections of Sandrine Rousseau. In her speeches, like this one, much commented on, the politician regularly makes analogies between anti-environmental attitudes and… Male violence. Rightly so. We also think of this other very controversial reflection of the activist.
But also to the latest Road Safety campaigns, narrated by Pio Marmai (a letter from a father to his son), and precisely emphasizing, through a “healthy” counterpoint, the harmful and even self-destructive attitudes of men at the flying. Not reproducing these attitudes, by becoming aware of this gender reality, also ensures the safety of future generations of boys and men.
Gender conflict, class conflict, and privilege?
“I could sum it up as someone very haughty with a luxury car and “when anyone touches my car, I’ll crush you”. When you go at that speed, you want to harm the victim. It’s free, pure and simple“, analyzes the anonymous witness to RTL.
A sentence which supports this decryption.
Analyzes are multiplying among activist voices while loved ones and those concerned are above all waiting for an outcome: that of Justice.
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