Almost 270,000 people in France recently signed a petition to prevent the creation of an official position of ‘First Lady’ for Brigitte Macron. Although President Emmanuel Macron believes that presidential spouses deserve this ‘status’, he has accepted his countrymen’s demand.
Perhaps President Macron accepted the demand as he realised that his ‘honeymoon’ with the people of France was over. Since his victory in the Presidential Election, Macron’s popularity has dropped by 10 percentage points. Even the French people have accused him of authoritarianism, saying that the president should not consider himself as a “Jupiterian head of state”.

Macron badly wanted his wife to hold the ‘First Lady’ title, as he forgot the European culture. European nations generally don’t believe in the concept of a first lady or a first family. They believe that ‘first spouse’ is a vague concept because the election of a politician is based on policies and ideas. As there is no election for their spouses, there should be no ‘First Lady’ status.
It is not the case that the French people have signed the petition because they dislike Brigitte. They actually respect their culture, which is different from the American culture. In US Presidential Elections, ‘character’ of the candidate has always been a hot topic of discussion. Americans consider a man’s choice of wife (or a woman’s choice of husband) reasonable evidence of his/her character. They also respect family values or the ability to keep wife/husband smiling at his/her side.
Unlike Americans, Europeans do not bother about their leaders’ personal life. That’s why former French President François Mitterrand’s mistress and ‘illegitimate’ daughter were seen next to his wife at his funeral. So far, neither America nor France has elected a female president. As a result, we cannot describe the petition as a fine example of gender discrimination. Although Germany and Britain have female political leaders, they are heads of the government and not the ceremonial heads of state. That’s why it is not possible for Angela Merkel or Theresa May’s husband to act as representative of the nation.

François Mitterrand’s funeral

We should respect the French people’s decision, as they want officeholders not to employ their family members as public staff. The government of France is a unique hybrid of presidential and parliamentary systems, which reflect the country’s rich political tradition and culture. And many important characteristics of the French population have shaped this culture. The modern tendency to distrust the government (probably) has its roots in the French Revolution. Whatever it may be, we should respect a culture and accept people’s demand. And President Macron did just that.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das