France may shrug off Gisele Pelicot’s rape ordeals as a provincial anomaly
The IndependentThe trial of Dominique Pelicot and 50 other men for the rape of his now ex-wife, Gisele, has been a case without precedent. As for social attitudes, there are other reasons why the Pelicot case may not have quite the resonance many French women might hope. Of course, the Pelicot case can also be regarded – as it also has been, and much more vocally – as emblematic of social attitudes in France today and the plight of its women. Gisele Pelicot is seen as personifying the depths to which French men’s treatment of women can plunge: they are objectified, subjugated – to the point here of being drugged and having their bodies farmed out to all-comers – and expected to keep quiet and carry on putting food on the table and servicing their husbands in bed. In the end, the question from the Pelicot case might be less about whether it will change France, but how much it really says about attitudes towards women in France – and how much France really needs to change.