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Élisabeth Badinter (née Bleustein-Blanchet; born 5 March 1944)[1] is a French philosopher, author and historian.
She is best known for her philosophical treatises on feminism and women's role in society. She is an advocate of
liberal feminism and women migrant workers' rights in France. Badinter is described as having a commitment to Enlightenment rationalism and universalism.[2] She advocates for a "moderate feminism".[3] A 2010
Marianne news magazine poll named her France's "most influential intellectual", primarily on the basis of her books on
women's rights and motherhood.[4]
Badinter is the largest shareholder of
Publicis Groupe, a multinational advertising and public relations company, and the chairwoman of its
supervisory board.[3][5] She received these shares in an inheritance from her father,
Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet, who founded the company.[6] According to Forbes, she is one of the wealthiest French citizens with a fortune of around
US$ 1.8 billion in 2012.[7]
Early life
Badinter was born in
Boulogne-Billancourt to Sophie Vaillant and
Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet, founder of
Publicis.[8] Sophie Vaillant was the granddaughter of
Édouard Vaillant, a French leftwing political leader and social activist. Elizabeth’s mother was raised as a Roman Catholic in a middle class upbringing, and later converted to Judaism following her marriage. She raised Élisabeth in the Jewish faith.[9]
Elisabeth and her two sisters were raised by parents who believed in the equality of the sexes.[2] She received her secondary education from L'école alsacienne, a private school in Paris. During adolescence, Badinter read
Simone de Beauvoir's
the Second Sex, which profoundly influenced her views, inspiring her pursuit of a doctorate in philosophy at
Sorbonne University. She is a specialist in French history of the
Age of Enlightenment.[10]
Career
After her studies, Badinter taught at the
École polytechnique.[11] Her first book titled, L'Amour en plus, was published in 1980 and raises the question of whether maternal love is an exclusively natural instinct or a tendency reinforced in the cultural context, in which the behaviour of motherly affection is expected.[12]
In her critical work, L'un est l'autre, published in 1987, Badinter reflects upon the complementarities of masculine and feminine traits in gendered identities and the conflicts that arise when these complementarities are subjected to oppression. Badinter concludes that a new era of gendered resemblances will lead to a change in gender identities and a revolution of moral values.[13]
Her 2003 treatise, La fausse route, addresses misandry and victimisation of women by French contemporary feminists. "The systematic denial of women's power and violence, the constant portrayal of women as oppressed and therefore innocent is deepening the crevasses of a divided humanity: the victims of masculine oppression on one side and the almighty executioners on the other. "[14] She criticizes
essentialists within the feminist movement, arguing that, "Man is not the enemy."[2]
Political activism
During the 1989
Islamic scarf controversy in France, Badinter,
Régis Debray,
Alain Finkielkraut, Elisabeth de Fontenay and Catherine Kintzler wrote an open letter to the then
Minister of Education,
Lionel Jospin, demanding that students who refuse to take off their headscarves not be allowed to attend state schools.[15] Badinter believes that the French public education system should be free of any religious affiliation and that neutrality in public institutions of a secularist state must prevail over expressions of individuality in them.[16] In an interview with the Financial Times, she says, "The religions of the Book have always fought against what would liberate women or facilitate their lives ... We talk about Muslim radicals all the time but it’s more general."[17]
Madame du Châtelet, Madame d'Épinay: Ou l'Ambition féminine au XVIIIe siècle, 2006;
ISBN2-08-210563-6.
Badinter, Elisabeth (2010). Le conflit, la femme et la mère. Flammarion.
ISBN978-2-253-15755-7.
Adriana Hunter, Badinter, Elisabeth (2012). The Conflict: How Modern Motherhood Undermines the Status of Women. Henry Holt and Company.
ISBN978-0-8050-9414-5.; translated from Le Conflit