This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/08/emmanuel-macron-brigitte-france-first-lady
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Emmanuel Macron is right to want Brigitte to be France’s first lady | Emmanuel Macron is right to want Brigitte to be France’s first lady |
| (6 months later) | |
| In our era of personalised politics, creating a formal office for a leader’s consort would be a recognition of the unique demands on the power behind the throne | |
| Tue 8 Aug 2017 20.04 BST | |
| Last modified on Mon 27 Nov 2017 18.47 GMT | |
| Share on Facebook | |
| Share on Twitter | |
| Share via Email | |
| View more sharing options | |
| Share on LinkedIn | |
| Share on Pinterest | |
| Share on Google+ | |
| Share on WhatsApp | |
| Share on Messenger | |
| Close | |
| In an early series of House of Cards, the long-running Netflix presidential drama, Claire Underwood – the future US first lady – articulates the essential dilemma of the modern political spouse, of a woman who has her own life and her own ambitions. “We used to make each other stronger,” she says with her hallmark savagery. “At least I thought so, but that was a lie. We were making you stronger.” Later there was an equally poignant description of the hypocrisy of the political partnership. “I should have never made you ambassador,” Frank says to his wife. “I should’ve never made you president,” Claire retorts. | In an early series of House of Cards, the long-running Netflix presidential drama, Claire Underwood – the future US first lady – articulates the essential dilemma of the modern political spouse, of a woman who has her own life and her own ambitions. “We used to make each other stronger,” she says with her hallmark savagery. “At least I thought so, but that was a lie. We were making you stronger.” Later there was an equally poignant description of the hypocrisy of the political partnership. “I should have never made you ambassador,” Frank says to his wife. “I should’ve never made you president,” Claire retorts. |
| This is the dilemma now clouding the early days of the new French president, Emmanuel Macron. His wife, Brigitte Macron, France’s potential première dame, has so far been silent on the matter. But during the election campaign her husband pledged to create the office of first lady, to bring transparency to a role that in France – as in most of the world – has no formal recognition. Ill-defined, unrewarded and often unrewarding, being married to the head of state is, according to the French newspaper Libération, a five-year sentence of thumb-twiddling “nothingness” that no one could wish on a sentient adult. | This is the dilemma now clouding the early days of the new French president, Emmanuel Macron. His wife, Brigitte Macron, France’s potential première dame, has so far been silent on the matter. But during the election campaign her husband pledged to create the office of first lady, to bring transparency to a role that in France – as in most of the world – has no formal recognition. Ill-defined, unrewarded and often unrewarding, being married to the head of state is, according to the French newspaper Libération, a five-year sentence of thumb-twiddling “nothingness” that no one could wish on a sentient adult. |
| Yet the Macron plan for a formal role for his wife as France’s first first lady (ignoring the awkward precedent of Marie Antoinette) has run smack into the buffers of popular disapproval: an online petition saying there is no reason for the first lady – any first lady – to have public funds has been signed by more than 200,000 people. Macron’s ratings have plummeted since the time of the election when he briefly sat, like Jupiter, above the fray. The office of first lady looks like the first casualty. This is obviously revealing about Macron’s striking failure to grasp the absurd contradiction between setting up an office for his wife while also trying to get a law through parliament ending the widespread habit of MPs employing family members. | Yet the Macron plan for a formal role for his wife as France’s first first lady (ignoring the awkward precedent of Marie Antoinette) has run smack into the buffers of popular disapproval: an online petition saying there is no reason for the first lady – any first lady – to have public funds has been signed by more than 200,000 people. Macron’s ratings have plummeted since the time of the election when he briefly sat, like Jupiter, above the fray. The office of first lady looks like the first casualty. This is obviously revealing about Macron’s striking failure to grasp the absurd contradiction between setting up an office for his wife while also trying to get a law through parliament ending the widespread habit of MPs employing family members. |
| Even a novice in practical politics should have seen this one coming. Ending political nepotism played well when tackling François Fillon, the rightwing candidate who also claimed to be in the field of cleaning up politics – only to find himself exposed as a serial employer of his wife and children. But appealing to voter cynicism can have its own unpleasant backlash, not least because it is an invitation to a good kicking from MPs whose own morals have been smeared. Even some members of Macron’s ultra-clean En Marche! party are refusing to back him. | Even a novice in practical politics should have seen this one coming. Ending political nepotism played well when tackling François Fillon, the rightwing candidate who also claimed to be in the field of cleaning up politics – only to find himself exposed as a serial employer of his wife and children. But appealing to voter cynicism can have its own unpleasant backlash, not least because it is an invitation to a good kicking from MPs whose own morals have been smeared. Even some members of Macron’s ultra-clean En Marche! party are refusing to back him. |
| And yet, Macron is trying to do something important; and if he had trodden more cautiously, he might have made a case for it. Everyone who ends up married to the head of government or head of state does the job their own way, but it always says something – often a great deal – about them both. In an era where political choice is so much more a matter of character (pollsters’ favourite question: would you trust this candidate to look after your pets while you were away?) than of policy, creating an office for the first consort would be a formal recognition of the significance of the political partner. | And yet, Macron is trying to do something important; and if he had trodden more cautiously, he might have made a case for it. Everyone who ends up married to the head of government or head of state does the job their own way, but it always says something – often a great deal – about them both. In an era where political choice is so much more a matter of character (pollsters’ favourite question: would you trust this candidate to look after your pets while you were away?) than of policy, creating an office for the first consort would be a formal recognition of the significance of the political partner. |
| After all, spouses are built into campaign agendas: the wife or girlfriend who was once there merely to confirm virility is now there to demonstrate normal human activity in someone whose life as a politician is at best regarded as weird. These avatars of normality are required to eat their way through official dinners and sit through visitor programmes specially designed for them. Yet they exist in a kind of penumbra, sometimes the indeterminate shadow cast by the more important other, sometimes magnifying their strengths and expanding their insights as the backbone and driving force. It is only necessary to imagine Barack Obama without Michelle to understand just how powerful the right partner can be. | After all, spouses are built into campaign agendas: the wife or girlfriend who was once there merely to confirm virility is now there to demonstrate normal human activity in someone whose life as a politician is at best regarded as weird. These avatars of normality are required to eat their way through official dinners and sit through visitor programmes specially designed for them. Yet they exist in a kind of penumbra, sometimes the indeterminate shadow cast by the more important other, sometimes magnifying their strengths and expanding their insights as the backbone and driving force. It is only necessary to imagine Barack Obama without Michelle to understand just how powerful the right partner can be. |
| Imagine Barack Obama without Michelle to understand just how powerful the right partner can be | Imagine Barack Obama without Michelle to understand just how powerful the right partner can be |
| The reluctance to recognise the consequences of personalising politics is a reflection of a wider confusion, partly to do with the easy assumption that all politicians are to some degree corrupted by the experience. But at a deeper level, it is really to do with the way voters perceive women and men as different categories of political actor. Theresa May’s husband, Philip, is not expected to disturb his life in the City on her behalf, except for the occasional likability test on TV. Angela Merkel’s husband, Joachim Sauer – a quantum chemist and professor at Humboldt University in Berlin – is so rarely seen in public other than at Wagnerian productions at Bayreuth that he is known as the phantom of the opera. | The reluctance to recognise the consequences of personalising politics is a reflection of a wider confusion, partly to do with the easy assumption that all politicians are to some degree corrupted by the experience. But at a deeper level, it is really to do with the way voters perceive women and men as different categories of political actor. Theresa May’s husband, Philip, is not expected to disturb his life in the City on her behalf, except for the occasional likability test on TV. Angela Merkel’s husband, Joachim Sauer – a quantum chemist and professor at Humboldt University in Berlin – is so rarely seen in public other than at Wagnerian productions at Bayreuth that he is known as the phantom of the opera. |
| Wives, on the other hand, are required to be present and visible – without at any point showing any discernible independence of mind. In some quarters of the media, any woman who strays outside this narrow non-job description is instantly pilloried. Whatever their rival merits, only contrast the treatment of Cherie Blair – who endured years of public humiliation – with the savvy PR operator Sarah Brown, who gave up her business and made emetic speeches about her husband, Gordon Brown, as her hero. | Wives, on the other hand, are required to be present and visible – without at any point showing any discernible independence of mind. In some quarters of the media, any woman who strays outside this narrow non-job description is instantly pilloried. Whatever their rival merits, only contrast the treatment of Cherie Blair – who endured years of public humiliation – with the savvy PR operator Sarah Brown, who gave up her business and made emetic speeches about her husband, Gordon Brown, as her hero. |
| So, yes, formally recognise the role of first consort. Oblige male as well as female spouses to undertake the role. Challenge voters to accept that if voters want politics to be about character, the partner can’t be silent. | So, yes, formally recognise the role of first consort. Oblige male as well as female spouses to undertake the role. Challenge voters to accept that if voters want politics to be about character, the partner can’t be silent. |
| • Anne Perkins is a Guardian leader writer | • Anne Perkins is a Guardian leader writer |
| France | |
| Opinion | |
| Brigitte Macron | |
| Europe | |
| comment | |
| Share on Facebook | |
| Share on Twitter | |
| Share via Email | |
| Share on LinkedIn | |
| Share on Pinterest | |
| Share on Google+ | |
| Share on WhatsApp | |
| Share on Messenger | |
| Reuse this content |