I identify myself as a feminist thanks to the many women who throughout history have fought and worked for our equality and freedom. If I had been told that being a feminist meant holding as a reference someone who defended pedophilia, I would have done like many of my friends at school: move as far away from feminism as possible. Simone de Beauvoir was one of the signatories of the 1977 manifesto protesting against convictions “for having had sexual relations with minors or for having encouraged and photographed their sexual games”. Years earlier de Beauvoir was removed from teaching because of a relationship she had with a female student in 1938.
Others have told me that the intellectual contributions of this author should not be dismissed because of these personal behaviors. However, those who say this never cite women who, long before her, had not only clearly raised feminist perspectives, but had also practiced them in their public and private lives. For example, movements as relevant as Free Women or Women’s Suffrage, among many other movements and authors, are often forgotten. Nor does their intellectual level justify such a situation. Other silenced women had a higher level, for instance, Simone Weil, of whom de Beauvoir said that she surpassed her not only in studies but also as a human being. Albert Camus also mentioned in his work that Weil had the most penetrating and prophetic political and social thought of her century. Weil fought Nazism until her death in 1943, while de Beauvoir was working for the Vichy government, which was a Nazi collaborator.
Will young girls want to be feminists if we see that the authors we hold as a reference go against the ideals we defend and our desire for greater freedom? I just want to be one of those who are brave and dare to break patriarchal hierarchies and silence in the face of violence. The opposite makes us their accomplices and seriously harms feminism and, therefore, all women.
