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Marguerite Stern, born on November 24, 1990, is a French feminist activist.
Marguerite Stern | |
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.jpg) Marguerite Stern - | |
| Born | November 24, 1990 |
| Occupation | Artist |
A former member of FEMEN, she is the founder of the "collages against femicides" movement.
Criticized for actions considered transphobic by some feminists, she was excluded from the movement she had launched, several months after having already left it.
Biography
editThe daughter of a real estate agent and a lab technician, Marguerite Stern grew up in a village in Auvergne.[1]
FEMEN Activism
editMarguerite Stern began her feminist activism within FEMEN.
Imprisonment in Tunisia
editOn May 29, 2013, she participated with two other activists in Tunisia in the first FEMEN action in an Arab country, in support of Amina Sboui.[2] They were arrested and detained for a month in Manouba Prison. On June 12, 2013, they were sentenced to four months and one day in prison for "offending public decency and morality."[3]
In Morocco against Homophobia
editOn June 2, 2015, she participated in FEMEN's first action in Morocco, in front of the Hassan Tower in Rabat, where she kissed another activist topless. According to a statement, this action aimed to "celebrate LGBT rights and denounce the injustice against the homosexual community in Morocco." Seven hours later, they were arrested, interrogated for six hours, and then expelled from the country.[4]
Support for Refugee Welcome Efforts
editFrom 2015 to 2016, she taught French in the Calais refugee camp.[5]
Collages Against Femicides
editIn February 2019, she initiated "collages against femicides" in France, in the form of brief slogans, especially in Paris and Marseille.[6] Her collages consisted of black letters painted one by one on white sheets. Her first slogan was "Since I was 13, men have commented on my appearance in the street."[7]
On August 30, 2019, she initiated a collective collage against femicides.[8] She managed the Paris group and helped launch the movement nationally for a month before stepping away but continued posting collages alone.[9]
Due to the simplicity of the method and the rise in femicides in France, collage groups began forming in cities and even internationally.[10] The media in France and abroad took an interest in the phenomenon.[11] These collages featured slogans aimed at raising awareness and denouncing the public authorities' inaction in addressing violence against women. The messages paid tribute to femicide victims, with short phrases describing the murders or general statements about the issue.
In July 2020, she opened a feminist squat in Paris's 12th arrondissement, "L’Amazone," a hub for collages and a creative space for women, notably excluding trans women. It was evicted a month later.[12]
Personal life
editOn October 20, 2016, after altercations with men in her neighborhood, a 9mm bullet struck her apartment window in Marseille in the middle of the night.[13]
Positions and Controversies
editStance Against the Veil and Prostitution Stern represents "universalist" feminism, opposing "essentialist" feminism. She notably declares that both the veil and prostitution are not matters of free will.
Views on Trans Identity and Accusations of Transphobia On January 22, 2020, after a collage in Montpellier calling for the inclusion of trans women in the feminist movement, she publicly opposed the prominence of trans activism within the collage movement and feminism on Twitter.[14] She argued that being a woman is a biological matter and claimed that trans women's activism reduced women to patriarchal stereotypes like makeup or clothing.[15] She denied that people assigned male at birth could be considered women, stating: "Throughout history, men have tried to silence women by suppressing their revolts. Today, they do it from within by infiltrating our struggles." Stern refuses terms like "people with vulvas." Her positions have led some intersectional feminists to label her a "TERF" (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist).
Following these declarations, the Collages Féminicides Paris Instagram account distanced itself from her, condemning all discrimination and stating that transphobia is not up for debate. Stern was eventually excluded from the movement she co-founded.
Collaborations and Further Controversies
editIn February 2020, Stern co-signed a controversial article questioning whether self-identifying as a woman was enough to demand to be recognized as one. This was considered transphobic and was republished by Marianne after being removed by HuffPost. The controversy around her views deepened, resulting in harassment, including death threats, which led to her hospitalization for anxiety. Despite this, she continued attacking trans people on social media.
In 2021, she publicly aligned with far-right masculinist Julien Rochedy. By 2023, she had distanced herself from feminism, defining herself as a "female" and further aligning with masculinist ideology.[16]
Publications
edit- FEMEN, Manifeste FEMEN (2014)
- Héroïnes de la rue, Manifeste pour un féminisme de combat (2020)
- Transmania (2024) with Dora Moutot
References
edit- ^ Aurélie Jacques, « La nuit des colleuses », Vanity Fair n°87, mars 2021, p. 62-69.
- ^ ""Etre une prisonnière en Tunisie" - Femen françaises". parismatch.com. 27 June 2013.
- ^ "Prison ferme pour des Femen en Tunisie". Libération.
- ^ "La Femen Marguerite Stern: "Il n'est pas exclu que nous revenions au Maroc"". Telquel.ma. 3 June 2015.
- ^ "Marguerite Stern : La Femme révoltée - Technikart". www.technikart.com. 28 March 2022. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022.
- ^ "Rencontre avec Marguerite Stern, initiatrice des collages anti-féminicides - Autour de Paris-Le nouveau guide du Grand Paris".
- ^ "5 choses à savoir sur le mouvement Collages Féminicides | Les Inrocks". www.lesinrocks.com.
- ^ Evenou, Delphine (9 September 2019). ""Aux femmes assassinées, la patrie indifférente" : des affiches pour interpeller sur les féminicides". France Inter.
- ^ "" Aux femmes assassinées, la patrie indifférente " : les " colleuses " d'affiches veulent rendre visibles les victimes de féminicides". 14 September 2019 – via Le Monde.
- ^ Tholance, Eva-Luna. "Les collages contre les féminicides s'exportent à l'étranger". Libération.
- ^ "Marguerite Stern, féministe de combats". 26 October 2019 – via Le Monde.
- ^ à 14h27, Par Élise Viniacourt Le 2 août 2020; À 11h25, Modifié Le 7 Août 2020 (2 August 2020). "Paris : dans les coulisses des collages contre les féminicides". leparisien.fr.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Cette ex-Femen a reçu une balle dans sa fenêtre, elle témoigne: "Je ne me résignerai jamais"". Le HuffPost. 21 October 2016.
- ^ Checknews, Service. "Quel est le point de départ de la polémique sur la place des trans dans le féminisme ?". Libération.
- ^ "Le mouvement Collages féminicides se déchire sur la question trans". 31 January 2020 – via Le Monde.
- ^ Arrighi, Pauline (17 February 2020). "Trans : suffit-il de s'autoproclamer femme pour pouvoir exiger d'être considéré comme telle ?". www.marianne.net.