OnOn September 19^th, France’s new prime minister, Michel Barnier, held what has been described as a “decisive” meeting as he sought, since his nomination by Emmanuel Macron a fortnight earlier, to create a government that could survive, at least in the short-term, the threats of a vote of no confidence in parliament.

Since President Macron’s extraordinary decision to call snap parliamentary elections which resulted in early June in a hung parliament, France has spent the summer in political paralysis. Although the broad leftwing alliance, the Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) garnered most votes, its rightwing opponents, from the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) to the conservative Les Républicains (LR), vowed to topple a government that included members of the largest NFP contingent, the radical-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party.

So it was that, in what many, both on the Left and the Right have called a “denial” of the democratic process, Barnier, 73, a veteran conservative and former EU commissioner (and the bloc’s chief Brexit negotiator), was chosen by Macron to lead a rightwing government over which hangs a Sword of Damocles in the form of the far-right; the largest single parliamentary party in terms of numbers of seats, Barnier needs the tacit support of the RN in order to legislate.

The September 19^th talks at Barnier’s office in the Hôtel Matignon, central Paris, were an exclusively masculine affair. Those taking part were from the Macronist camp and its new allies from the conservative – not to say reactionary – ranks. The object of the talks was to validate the agreements mapped out between both, and to fine tune the final makeup of the government, which was announced two days later.

From left to right: Laurent Wauquiez, Franck Riester, Gabriel Attal and Édouard Philippe. © Photomontage Armel Baudet / Mediapart

Sitting around the table were Senator Bruno Retailleau, 63, leader of the conservative LR group in the Upper House; Laurent Wauquiez, 49, head of the LR group in the National Assembly, the Lower House; Gabriel Attal, 35, the outgoing prime minister and leader of the Macronist-led centre-right coalition in the National Assembly; Franck Riester, 50, member of Macron’s Renaissance party; Marc Fesneau, 53, the outgoing agriculture minister and member of the largest of Macron’s centre-right allies, the MoDem party; Édouard Philippe, 53, Macron’s first prime minister, from 2017 to 2020, founder of the centre-right Horizons party and self-announced presidential hopeful; Hervé Morin, 63, chairman of the centre-right Centrist party and head of the Normandy regional council; Laurent Hénart, 55, chairman of the centre-right Parti Radical, and Hervé Marseille, 70, a senator and chairman of the centre-right UDI party.

This men-only gathering was almost very slightly diluted by the presence of MoDem secretary general Maud Gatel, who the party sent in a last-minute decision that she should take part in the talks. Gatel went through the security checks at the Hôtel Matignon – proof, if needed, that her presence at the meeting had been announced – but when she got to the doors of the room where the “decisive” gathering was held, she was asked to remain outside after the other participants objected to her presence because she was not on the original list of those taking part. So while the men inside discussed the future of France, Gatel was made to wait until they had finished.

The incident says a lot about the manner in which decisions are taken at the summit of the French state, and also about the substance of those decisions.

To no surprise, the all-male negotiations reflect the composition of France’s new government. For, while in strict terms of numbers of posts, there is gender parity, all the appointees to the most prestigious and powerful ministries (the interior, defence, justice, economy and foreign affairs), what in French are called the ministères régaliens, are men. Just as was the case under the brief premiership of Gabriel Attal, France’s youngest-ever prime minister.

Above: the proportion of women (in red) and men (in blue) in charge of the four blocks of Michel Barnier’s government. From left to right: the most powerful ministers (interior, defence, justice, economy and foreign affairs); other ministers; junior ministers; secretaries of state.

As for the fate of what was previously the post of minister of state for equality between women and men, which had been trumpeted as one of the great causes of Macron’s two terms of office, it has been demoted in the architecture of the new government. Previously placed under the auspices of the prime minister’s office, it is now headed by a secretary of state who will work under a minister for social solidarity and equality between women and men – and who is a man, Paul Christophe, member of the Horizons party.

The new secretary of state is a conservative, Salima Saa, 53, founder of the Association of Friends of Nicolas Sarkozy, once briefly president of the National Agency for Social Cohesion and Equality of Opportunities, and who was appointed by Macron in 2020 as prefect of the Corrèze département (administrative area equivalent to a county) in central France.

For feminist activists, Saa’s appointment was particularly surprising – some would say dismaying – given that her background includes no experience or positioning that qualifies her as a secretary of state for gender equality. She even mocked the idea of such a government department when interviewed by the French edition of Slate in 2012. “I find that a ministry for women’s rights is ridiculous in 2012, not modern,” she said then.

Meanwhile, Senator Laurence Rossignol, a former socialist minister for families, childhood and women’s rights between 2016 and 2017, took to social media X to criticise the new arrangement. “A miserable secretaryship for women/men equality placed under the authority of a minster for solidarity (a man), a portfolio for THE family and not familIES… we haven’t seen that since at least fifteen years! The traditional and reactionary Right has really returned to power!” wrote Rossignol.

Following the announcement of the new government, around 30 French feminist associations, including the Family Planning association, the Women’s Foundation, and the National Collective for Women’s Rights, issued a joint statement on September 23^rd in which they argued that “the absence of a full-time minister for women’s rights, with a dedicated budget, is a provocation”.

The titling of ministries is often anecdotal, and the result of intense battles of egos of no major interest. But, like the order of protocol of the new French government, the ministerial titles announce the political weight of each member of government and notably in discussions on budgets and the priority of policies. “The trial of the rapists of Mazan has prompted an unprecedented emotion,” wrote the feminist associations in their September 23^rd joint statement. “Everyone takes measure of the urgent need that victims of violence can file complaints without fear and apprehension, and of the necessity to truly fight against the culture of rape.”

The associations also expressed their “concern” over several ministerial appointments to Barnier’s government, and who include several figures who for long have opposed the cause of women’s rights and those of gender minorities, who opposed the same-sex marriage law, and the inclusion into the constitution of the right to abortion. They have called for a strong turnout in demonstrations planned for October 19^th in support of victims of sexual violence, and others planned for November 23^rd marking the “International Day” for the elimination of sexist and sexual violence.

Ever since the election of Emmanuel Macron to his first term of office in 2017, his pledge to make gender equality a major priority of his mandate has largely been a disappointment. He made Gérald Darmanin his interior minister while the latter was accused of rape (the subsequent investigation has since been closed without charges being brought), while he also appointed Éric Dupond-Moretti as justice minister despite his overt hostility towards the #MeToo movement.

After having given his support – citing the presumption of innocence – to other former ministers Damien Abad and Nicolas Hulot, separately accused of rape, Macron lastly revealed his masculinist penchant by lending his public support for Gérard Depardieu, who he said was victim of a “manhunt” following multiple complaints against him of sexual violence, including rape, and which have led to the actor being sent for trial. The Barnier government, spawned by a “boy’s club”, appears to be following along the same tracks.

Lénaïg Bredoux and Ellen Salvi