The Mouvement de libération des femmes (MLF, ) is a French autonomous, single-sex feminist movement that advocates women's bodily autonomy and challenges

patriarchal society Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...

. It was founded in 1970, in the wake of the American

Women's Lib The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminism, feminist intellectualism. It emerged in the late 1960s and continued till the 1980s, primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which resu ...

movement and the events of May 1968. The movement challenges traditional forms of militancy: it operates through general assemblies, small decentralized groups and has a repertoire of extra-parliamentary actions such as the organization of events, the creation and signing of petitions, the holding of public meetings, etc.

History

On August 26, 1970, a dozen anonymous activists laid a wreath under the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, often called simply the Arc de Triomphe, is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Plac ...

in praise of the wife of the Unknown Soldier. This action was led by nine women, including

Cathy Bernheim Cathy Bernheim (10 April 1946 – 8 April 2025) was a French novelist and an influential feminist activist. She started off the Mouvement de Libération des Femmes (Women's Liberation Movement or MLF). She was also a member of the Gouines Rouges ...

, Christine Delphy, Monique Wittig, Christiane Rochefort and Namascar Shaktini. Their banners displayed this phrase: "There is more unknown than the unknown soldier: his wife". They were immediately arrested by the police, but the next day the press announced "the birth of the MLF". At its origins, the MLF was neither a movement nor a political party: no leader was tolerated. The movement is composed by collectives and small groups. The feminist militants want to fight in all fronts, based on the principle that " the private is political". They reject the ideals of beauty imposed by the patriarchal diktat, claim for nurseries, ask their partners to share domestic tasks. The sexual revolution has gone through it: they denounce rape, incest and sexual assault, and fight for abortion. One of the first actions of the movement was to support the rebellion in the center for pregnant teenagers from Plessis-Robinson, who were between 13 and 17 years old. At the end of 1971, the residents began, with the help of the MLF, on a hunger strike to refuse the fate that was imposed on them: excluded from their school, marginalized by their own family, mistreated. Alerted by the MLF,

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she ...

went to meet them, accompanied by journalists.

Currents

The MLF came to be known by three main currents: ''Féministes révolutionnaires'', ''Psychanalyse et politique'' and ''Lutte de classes''.

''Psychanalyse et politique''

''Psychanalyse et politique'', or Psych et po, was a MLF

research group A research group is a group of researchers often from the same faculty, specialized on the same subject, working together on the issue or topic. The success of a research group depends on several factors: clearly defined goals, research emphasi ...

founded by Antoinette Fouque. The group is at the origin of ''

Éditions des Femmes Éditions des Femmes is a French feminist publishing house that was launched in 1972, mainly by women of the collective ''Psychanalyse et politique'' led by Antoinette Fouque, with other activists of the MLF, and funded by the patron Sylvina Boisso ...

'', the magazine ''Des femmes en movements'', the newspaper ''Le Quotidien des femmes'', and bookstores in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

and

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. In addition to Fouque, notable members included

Hélène Cixous Hélène Cixous (; ; born 5 June 1937) is a French writer, playwright and Literary criticism, literary critic. During her academic career, she was primarily associated with the Centre universitaire de Vincennes (today's University of Paris VIII) ...

and

Luce Irigaray Luce Irigaray (; born 3 May 1930) is a Belgian-born French feminist, philosopher, linguist, psycholinguist, psychoanalyst, and cultural theorist who examines the uses and misuses of language in relation to women. Irigaray's first and most ...

. Openly

antifeminist Antifeminism or anti-feminism is opposition to feminism. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, antifeminists opposed particular policy proposals for women's rights, such as women's suffrage, the right to vote, Female education, educat ...

, Psych et po was involved in several controversies with other MLF groups, such as the registration of ownership of the name ''mouvement de libération des femmes'' in 1979.

Publications

''Le torchon brûle''

''Le torchon brûle'' was a newspaper published by MLF members between May 1971 and June 1973, with a zero issue published in December 1970. The idea for the newspaper came from a general assembly of the MLF at the ''

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

'' in Paris. Marie Dedieu is credited as the publication's director.

''Questions féministes''

'' Questions féministes'' was a feminist journal published from 1977 to 1980. It was founded by a group of feminists that included Simone de Beauvoir, Christine Delphy, Colette Capitan, Colette Guillaumin, Emmanuèle de Lesseps, Nicole-Claude Mathieu, Monique Plaza, and later Monique Wittig.

Economic and political progress

The women of the women's liberation movement profoundly transformed society and values during the second half of the twentieth century. They encouraged a considerable change in the conception of

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

, in particular the reforms on the

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

, professional and parental equality, and the law on parity.''Génération MLF 1968-2008'', éditions des femmes, 616 pages

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mouvement de liberation des femmes 1970 establishments in France Feminist organizations in France