Post-war
Women obtained the right to vote only with the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF)'s ordinance of 21 April 1944. The Consultative Assembly of Algiers of 1944 proposed on 24 March 1944 to grant eligibility to women. Following an amendment by the communist deputy Fernand Grenier, they were given full citizenship, including the right to vote. Grenier's proposition was adopted 51 to 16. In May 1947, following the November 1946 elections, the sociologist Robert Verdier minimized the "gender gap," stating in Le Populaire that women had not voted in a consistent way, dividing themselves, as men, according to social classes. Despite these progresses, and the inclusion in the 1946 Constitution of the "equality of rights" between women and men, inequalities persist until today. During the baby boom period, feminism again became a minor movement, despite forerunners such as Simone de Beauvoir, who published The Second Sex in 1949. Wars (both World War I and World War II) had seen the provisional emancipation of some, individual, women, but post-war periods signalled the return to conservative roles. For instance, Lucie Aubrac, who was active in the French Resistance — a role highlighted by Gaullist myths — returned to private life after the war. Thirty-three women were elected at the Liberation, but none entered the government, and the euphoria of the Liberation was quickly halted.
Women retained a low profile during the Fourth and Fifth Republic. In 1949, Jeanne-Paule Sicard was the first female chief of staff, but was called "Mr. Pleven's (then Minister of Defence) secretary." Marie-France Garaud, who entered Jean Foyer's office at the Ministry of Cooperation and would later become President Georges Pompidou's main counsellor, along with Pierre Juillet, was given the same title. The leftist newspaper Libération, founded in 1973 by Jean-Paul Sartre, would depict Marie-France Garaud as yet another figure of female spin-doctors. However, the new role granted to the President of the Republic in the semi-presidential regime of the Fifth Republic after the 1962 referendum on the election of the President at direct universal suffrage, led to a greater role of the "First Lady of France". Although Charles de Gaulle's wife Yvonne remained out of the public sphere, the image of Claude Pompidou would interest the media more and more. The media frenzy surrounding Cécilia Sarkozy, former wife of the current President Nicolas Sarkozy, would mark the culmination of this current.
Read more about this topic: Feminism In France
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