Françoise Grange, Amplepuis (69), Rhône (69)

This is one I left for later: the exhibition 'Née Fille' in the Musée Barthélémy Thimonnier by the feminist artist Françoise Grange. In it, she says that she has tried to understand what could lead a torturer to accomplish such acts of cruelty. The philosophy of Hannah Arendt features strongly here, and after eliminating 'psychopathic misogynists', Grange uses Arendt's expression 'absence of thought', which is absence of reflection, absence of responsibility, which can lead to an ideology: that of asking no questions, obeying rules along the lines of 'That's what we've always done', or 'It's the will of God', or the totalitarian 'You don't question the orders of those in power'. In this way, a person is no longer responsible for acts of obscenity, only loyal to his religion, his social group or his rulers. This legitimises appalling acts, the will of those in power is accomplished without moral conscience, job done. This inevitably causes us to consider Arendt's expression 'The banality of evil', the normalisation of obscenity to women, such as the traditions of clitoral excision and infibulation (the sewing up of the vulval lips); the enforced marriage of  young girls; the shutting up of widows in darkened places; the reduction of women to their reproductive function; the stoning of victims of rape; the allowing of temporary marriages (just a form of prostitution); women being forced to hide their bodies and being denied access to education; the list is endless.

Men grow up still believing in ancient customs: if they didn't they'd be cutting themselves off from their society. What they do is in 'good faith', they remain persuaded that women are inferior, witches or prostitutes, unworthy of respect. Women are to be feared, so it is necessary to tame them, dominate them, subject them to male wishes and punish them. 'Née Fille' is an extremely powerful argument in favour of the freedom of women, of their resistance to men's barbarities, and is a deeply moving experience, surely especially today when women in Afghanistan are returning to a horrific life which existed centuries ago?

The exhibits are accompanied by poems, but if it would be inappropriate for me to translate them. Suffice to say that we (yes, men too!) should all be feminists now. If not, there's no hope.