The Oppressed Majority

Prowling around for a good feminist topic to blog about, I came across a short French film,  Majorité Opprimée (Oppressed Majority), that is really giving me a lot to think about, and a lot to write about. Watch the 11-minute film here:

I’m going to break down the scenes one on one.

First of all, we can see that the director is a woman, Eleonore Pourriat. I think this is especially important because it gives the movie more credibility. Another thing to point out is the short description of the film: “On what seems to be just another ordinary day, a man is exposed to sexism and sexual violence in a society ruled by women…” This little description caught my attention because I never thought about what it would be like if the roles between men and women were swapped so dramatically.

In the first scene we’re introduced to the main character, a 30-ish-year-old slightly out of shape man who’s taking his child off to daycare. A woman neighbor stops to talk to him about a recent building meeting, addressing him as “my dear”. They chatter for awhile, and then as the woman is leaving she chuckles, “Oh I’m saying this to you? I should really be talking to your wife…” The man pauses for a second, but doesn’t really take offense by it. In fact, this line is so subtle that in real life, in our male-driven world, this remark probably wouldn’t register as misogynistic. But in reality, it is; why wouldn’t the male be as informed as the female on these matters? Why is one more worth talking to than the other?

The man sets on his way and is nearly knocked over by a topless female runner. Only the French are shamelessly not boob-a-phobics and I love ’em for it.

Notice this subtle comment as well? She’s only remarking on his looks. This happens over and over in a woman’s lifetime that she starts to base her self worth on her beauty.

Dropping his child off at work, he notices the nanny, who’s a man, has started wearing a hijab, and he asks if he feels trapped by his wife. The nanny replies no, that it’s the law and that he’s protected by God that way. It’s possible that the nanny is telling the truth, that he feels more comfortable wearing the head scarf, but it’s also a possibility that he’s changed himself to please his wife. Our main guy is concerned about this, because this is a real issue for men (our women) in everyday life. I’m not arguing about the hijab itself; as a Westerner, I see it as a misogynistic practice, but I wasn’t brought up in that culture. I’m arguing about the fact that women often feel like they have to change the way they look to please their significant other or the males in their life.

Leaving the nanny, our guy hops on his bike. On the way he’s cat-called by a homeless woman who offers to give him a blowjob. The man ignores her at first, but when she yells at him to give her money and he refuses, she blows up at him, insulting his looks. He stays silent until the light turns green and he rides away. His silence is really disturbing; it’s weird to see a woman insult a man and have the man be silent, subservient.

Riding off, the man makes it to outside his office building and parks his bike. Four young girls are standing in the road, one of them relieving herself in the alleyway. The girls start to heckle the man, and finally, he gets fed up and asks if there’s a problem.

Our guy finally sticks up for himself, but when he calls them bitches, they get angry and react violently. In the alleyway, with a knife to his throat, the girls tear open his shirt, play with his nipples, and unzip his pants. This scene gave me chills; it’s so strange to watch women violently dominate a man in this way. As a woman, scenarios like this frighten me enough so that I am afraid to walk alone in the dark. I feel pretty safe in State College, but the idea of being taken advantage of is so scary to me that I don’t like to take risks. I can’t possibly imagine a world in which the roles would be switched, that men would fear me and my girl friends at night, and so I think that’s why this scene was so poignant to me.

The film skips to the man at the police station, as a woman officer dryly recounts his story. After she condescendingly asks for a cup of coffee from her young male assistant, she says, “It’s crazy isn’t it? In broad daylight, with no witnesses…” Our man asks what she’s trying to get at, and she replies,

Her icy gaze is what gets me most; she has absolutely no sympathy for what he went through, and what’s more, she questions if this scene ever took place.

When his wife meets him at the police station, she briefly explains that she couldn’t come earlier since she had a meeting. “I think I really knocked ’em dead” she says proudly, and the man says “I’m so happy for you”. That really ticked me off.

Walking out of the hospital, the woman makes no effort to try and comfort the man who can barely stand on his feet. She looks so uncomfortable, and clearly doesn’t know what to do. Then, he breaks down.

One of the first things she replies is:

When he says he dresses as he wants, she harshly replies, “Don’t complain then!”

This is the popular argument of the ignorant, that women are asking for it when they wear tight or suggestive clothing. Yet, if we wear baggy clothing, we’re accused of being uptight, boring virgins. It’s the kind of double standard that makes me crazy.

She walks away, and as the camera follows her down the long, dark road, male voices start to insult her. She looks afraid as she walks alone; in a matter of seconds, the roles are switched back to normal. I applaud the director, Pourriat, for this exceptional short film that brings attention to one of our biggest issues as a society, objectification and violence against women. I especially want to know how men react to this film, so share your thoughts.