Oh mon dieu! C’est incroyable!
Ok, so my French is a lil’ rusty, but that doesn’t stop me from loving Paris, France. I even have a tattoo of the Eiffel Tower because I love that city so much.
So if you had seen my face when I found out that Paris’s upcoming mayoral race IS ALL FEMALE, you probably would’ve been floored. Yep, this year, four lovely ladies are running for mayor.
Previously in 2008, two female candidates ran for the mayoral position, but this time around, there’s not a man in sight. Running for the conservative Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) is Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet; Cecile DuFlot is the choice of Les Verts (the Green Party); Anne Hildago is all for the Parti Socialiste (PS), while Marielle de Sarnez is running for the centrist MoDem, or Mouvement Democrate party.
Cecile DuFlot, mayoral candidate of France’s Green Party
However, French political experts like Julia Mouzon, founder of Femmes et Pouvoir (Women and Power), told Women’s eNews that “the problem for women in French politics is not to be elected but to be designated by their party. They somehow don’t trust women to give them the legitimacy to run a race on their behalf.”
Though hearing that makes me shed un petit tear, right now we can all enjoy the hope that these mayoral candidates could help change France’s political stance. Only time, and ballots, will tell!
Thanks to College Candy and Women’s eNews
Images via College Candy