From Afghanistan to the Vaucluse

I have been pondering a recent news item. A woman in her seventies has brought her husband and around fifty other men to trial before the criminal division of the Vaucluse court. The facts are scarcely believable. For years, her husband knocked her unconscious with anti-anxiety drugs, only to have her raped by strangers. This trial casts a harsh light on the sinister hold of the patriarchy over our relationships and private lives. Newspaper reports on the trial suggest that the defendants are yet to express genuine remorse. I am dismayed but hardly surprised. The professions of good faith of the men in the dock suggest that their machismo and sense of entitlement remain undimmed.

This trial casts a harsh light on the sinister hold of the patriarchy over our relationships and private lives.

One after the other, the accused have cast themselves as pawns in a system whose rules they believe they followed. Isn’t it natural for a man to feel aroused by a woman he does not know? Isn’t it exciting to think of penetrating an unprotesting female at the instigation of her husband? You only need to search the Internet for a couple of minutes to see that this dynamic is a staple of pornography.

Isn’t it natural for a man to feel aroused by a woman he does not know?

The trial forces us to reckon with the myths of virility and libertine licentiousness that infuse our daily lives. The unfortunate truth is that our culture has always fostered the male sex drive and encouraged women to submit to the demands of the dominant gender, whether for the purposes of procreation or to curry favour.

The trial forces us to reckon with the myths of virility and libertine licentiousness that infuse our daily lives.

Can we take a step back from this historical trial and look at the devastating impact of patriarchal constructs? Can we find a constructive response to the magnifying mirror that this court case holds up to us instead of becoming embroiled in sterile debates?

Can we take a step back from this historical trial and look at the devastating impact of patriarchal constructs?

Let me attempt a comparison with Afghanistan. I believe it is safe to say that few Western men condone the treatment that Afghan women have endured at the hands of the Taliban since 2021. The tragic decline of women’s rights in that part of the world leaves me speechless. It is an attempt to dehumanise half the country’s population. The regime’s latest sanctions can only elicit deep feelings of compassion:  the Taliban introduced more drastic measures last summer, while many of us were on holiday, banning women from singing, reading and reciting poetry in public.

It is an attempt to dehumanise half the country’s population.

How do the Taliban justify the cruelty and humiliation to which they subject women? Well, according to the regime, these measures are meant to prevent the corruption of society – i.e. to guard men from the allure of women going freely about their lives, beyond the confines of their family. The new laws also make men legally responsible for their wives’ actions, placing all aspects of women’s lives under the control of their husbands.

To guard men from the lure of women going freely about their lives, beyond the confines of their family.

Such a society only perceives the world through the blinkers of machismo. It seems natural, within that system, that men should need to be protected from their own desires and impulses towards women. In the eyes of the Taliban, men cannot possibly behave like good citizens with free women in their midst.

Standing before the Vaucluse court are French Everymen. Men from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds. Men so different that their paths are unlikely to cross outside this courtroom. Men brought together by their sexual appetites and individual and collective incomprehension of the charges brought against them – hence my comparison with Afghanistan.

Hence my comparison with Afghanistan.

Apologies to the victim have not been forthcoming, suggesting that the defendants feel that the satisfaction of their sexual urges – indeed rape – are legitimate pursuits. When they looked at the victim asleep in her marital bed in the middle of night, all they saw was the Taliban figure of the “temptress”. They felt no duty of care towards this unconscious being. Some of them even tried to argue that her husband had dominion her. Adopting the logic of the Taliban, they suggested that the husband’s presence in the bedroom somehow absolved them of rape.

When they looked at the victim asleep in her marital bed in the middle of night, all they saw was the Taliban figure of the “temptress”. They felt no duty of care towards this unconscious being.

Unfortunately, the European construction of masculinity also implies the glorification of male sexual biology. It is considered acceptable, indeed desirable, for men to identify with and be guided by their sex drive. Patriarchal assumptions are so omnipresent and systemic within our societies, so embedded within the way we live, that we can be blind to them. The patriarchy’s logic of domination is rooted in the biological processes on which we depend for the preservation of our species. The male sex drive lies behind the sexual abuse of the dominated – i.e. women, for the most part.

Unfortunately, the European construction of masculinity also implies the glorification of male sexual biology.

On a social level, it is clear to see that our neoliberal system makes it a little harder every day for us to flourish within the bounds of what our planet can take. Our society as a whole mimics the logic of the male sex drive, idealising greatness and power at the expense of those who are subjected to domination.

Our society as a whole mimics the logic of the male sex drive, idealising greatness and power at the expense of those who are subjected to domination.

In 2023, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg spent the summer attacking each other in heated social media exchanges, like gladiators from another age. It was obvious that even these consummate professionals were at the mercy of the most basic instincts. Which is concerning, given the economic and systemic power they both wield.

It was obvious that even these consummate professionals were at the mercy of the most basic instincts.

How can we hope to overcome the complex political challenges that lie in the way of the green transition and social justice, if our capacity to reason is at the mercy of male biology? If, however wealthy or gifted, men will not spontaneously help us to move forward?

If, however wealthy or gifted, men will not spontaneously help us to move forward?

Fortunately, the MeToo movement shows the way. The wave of female empowerment that has been growing every day since 2017 has helped us to move forward, giving us the courage to shine a harsh light on male predation. Increasingly, women and men no longer shy away from sharing their experiences of predation. Their personal stories resonate with us and allow us to see how entrenched these behaviours are. And when we name these archaic dynamics, we can denounce and stand up to them – or even ridicule them.

And when we name these archaic dynamics, we can denounce and stand up to them – or even ridicule them.

In the Vaucluse court case, a strong, brave woman tells her story in order to fight back against this iniquitous and archaic domination. She shares the grave and humiliating wrongs she has suffered, not in order to cast herself as a victim but to move the world forward. When she requested an open trial, she allowed us a glimpse into the dynamics of predation in order to shift the shame and humiliation onto the perpetrators. This is good news for women, but also for men – and indeed for our shared future as humans.

She shares the grave and humiliating wrongs she has suffered, not in order to cast herself as a victim but to move the world forward.

Sooner or later, the arguments of the prosecution will prompt the fifty men in the dock to revisit some of their assumptions. But what about us? What can we learn from this trial? Will it allow us to see that the battle against the patriarchy is the mother of all battles? That the same dynamic of domination also defines our current relationship with nature? That standing up to these attitudes is what will lead us to a more beautiful, gentle and dignified world?

Will it allow us to see that the battle against the patriarchy is the mother of all battles?

We can achieve wonders if we choose the path of reflection and change. Of beautiful relationships forged from the heart, both with each other and the world. For this radiant path will put an end to the patriarchy and its trail of devastation. And as we flap our wings, let us dream that, through a butterfly effect, this will cause the Taliban regime to teeter one day.