Five women who are writing the times and making us think differently

They have been with us for several years, lighting the way with their strong actions or prolific creativity. For some, it was a celebratory or, on the contrary, a completely tragic appearance in the public and media arena, which marked a before and after, created an electric shock, initiated a social movement that: hardly a retreat. For others, maturation was a form of persistent, unique path, long-term effort that enabled the achievement of a fixed goal. From France and elsewhere, these women write the era, give it color, intent, almost sound. Vanessa Springora, Mahsa Amini, Greta Thunberg and others, we believe, have changed the way we look and think.

Mahsa Amin, the veil is too much

She died in Tehran on September 16, 2022, three days after being arrested by the morality police for “wearing inappropriate clothing” — an inappropriate veil… The Islamic regime speaks of a heart problem. Eyewitnesses said the blows caused brain hemorrhage. Pictures of the 22-year-old Kurdish student are quickly circulating on social media, and nothing will ever be the same. Demonstrations begin on the 17th. Women take off their veils. Men support them. The country is on fire from the suppressed thirst for freedom for more than forty-three years. On the 22nd, Instagram and WhatsApp are blocked by the authorities. Since then and relentlessly, Iranian men and women have demonstrated and competed in ingenuity to cross the digital border and flood social media with images. Well done (Pour), by poet Sherwin Hajipour, becomes the anthem of a movement of incredible courage. Arrests and executions are increasing. The population risks their lives, women, rapes in prison. On the street, the policemen are also aiming at the eyes. The whole world is finally opening its own.

Greta Thunberg, political climate

At the end of August 2018, a 15-year-old child with an enigmatic look started a school strike for climate that spread around the world. Five years later with lapidary formulas. “I want you to panic.” (I want you to panic) In front of the European Parliament, “How dare you?” (How dare you?) After speeches by the super-rich at the UN summit and the Davos forum, Greta Thunberg has become the West’s most influential whistleblower on climate change inaction. We (men, systematically) criticized this neurodivergent teenager for being a “collapser”, an apocalyptic guru using primitive slogans. But it is about the studies of scientists and assumes its role as an itchy hair mobilizer. At the end of 2022, Greta Thunberg sent the influencer and fraudster Andrew Tate back to the ropes (masculine slogans repeatedly followed on social networks, arrested for human trafficking in Romania), who asked her for an email. list of its major polluting vehicles. His reply: “smalldickenergy@getalife.com” (energiedepetitebite @trouveunsensàtavie.com). Thunberg is only 20 years old. Like his entire generation, he no longer has his life ahead of him.

In the video, I’m GretaThe teaser

Jacinda Ardern, A Test of Power

He opened our eyes by putting political commitment at the heart of reality. Does it sound trivial? This is not the case, as personal ambitions and clan struggles have everywhere distorted the assumption. On January 19, 2023, the Prime Minister of New Zealand made an unexpected announcement after six years in power. “I don’t have enough energy to go on anymore.” (“Not Enough in the Tank Anymore”). Then: “Politicians are human. I’m human.” And that’s it. In other words, when you give everything to your position, it overwhelms you. She wants to see her daughter grow up, she continues. Those who praised his strength, his simplicity during the frenzy of attacks in his country, as during the epidemic, praised his sincerity. The anti-vax who insulted him continued. Jacinda Ardern is 42 years old and, with brilliant success, says intimacy is at the heart of politics. On February 15, Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon, after eight years in power, also resigned “after deep consideration.”

Marie-Jo Zimmerman, A Well-Ordered Equality

He is the originator of the text that bears his name, the Cope-Zimmerman Act, which celebrated its 11th anniversary in January. During his time as an MP for Mosel, he advocates an idea that will change the management of companies. to promote professional equality, which is slipping badly, it is necessary, he says, to instill change from the top. Or set a 40% quota of women on the boards of directors of large groups, to be achieved by 2017, the idea is to create calls and “pools” of candidates for senior positions (CoDir, ComEx). If his law did not have the expected trickle-down effect, it did break down cultural locks. today, a company that does not include a single woman on its board is obsolete. Ricksen’s law, voted into law in 2021, requires companies with at least 1,000 employees to have 30% women among senior executives by 2027 and 40% by 2030.

Vanessa Springora, From “I” to “We”

Consent. The title of his book, published in 2020 (Éditions Grasset), is two words and contains as many eras. That’s after May ’68, which mentions Gabriel Matznef, author of reviews, novels and newspapers, in which he brags about his sexual relations with minors. Today’s, which now sees a child abuser behind the literary hero’s 2013 Renaud Essay Award. Vanessa Springora knew him in the 1980s. He is 14 years old, she is 50. How could he, his mother, the literary community, society as a whole agree? This is the central question of her book, which reveals sordid tales of surveillance disguised as love stories. Springora’s words, as raw as reality, have the power to enlighten the collective consciousness. Undoubtedly, he emphasizes the time because the public, which in recent years has been flooded with stories of sexual violence, was ready to start the MeToo movement, which was initiated in 2006 by the New York social worker Tarana Burke, which eleven years later was transferred by the actress Alyssa Milano and took. by many others: Andrea Bescond, Adele Haenel… A chain of women bound by an “invisible, anonymous and yet very tangible solidarity,” writes Vanessa Springora. The world (October 14, 2022). This same solidarity allows him to endure when his intimacy becomes a public fact, a matter of debate. A price to pay for making such a shift, no doubt.