About twenty women protested toplessly between the artworks in Musée d’Orsay in Paris on Sunday. The activists of Femen wanted to make a statement against sexual discrimination by the museum. They had refused a female visitor last week because of her “too conspicuous” cleavage. The protest came after the museum apologized for the uproar.
Jeanne’s cleavage
The 22-year-old student Jeanne entered the Musée d’Orsay on Tuesday, September 15. A female officer refused her entry. “Oh no, you can’t. You can’t go in like that, ” Jeanne is said to have been told as eyes turned to her cleavage. The visitor protested, a guard was called in and said: “rules are rules.” Jeanne asked which rules they were, but there was no clear answer.
Nudity
“Once inside, I see paintings of naked women and sculptures of naked women everywhere,” she wrote in an open letter on Twitter the next day. “I wonder if those guards realize they have sexualized me. I am more than a set of breasts, I am more than a body. “”
Lettre ouverte @MuseeOrsay
— Tô’ (@jeavnne) September 9, 2020
Ci-joint la robe de la discorde (photo prise quatre heures plus tôt) pic.twitter.com/FTIXQKsdRZ
Outrage
The open letter sparked a storm of outrage on social media. Photographs were posted en masse of all the nudes on display at Musée d’Orsay, including photos of statues outside depicting women with plunging necklines. The left-wing newspaper Libération delved into the rules of the museum. It turned out that “neat clothing” is desired. “A visitor can be refused if the clothing could disturb public order.”
Due to all the fuss, the museum quickly apologized. The incident was the result of overeager officials, Musée d’Orsay informed Jeanne. The student was satisfied with that. “I am not advocating a boycott of the museum. I wanted to draw attention to the fact that women are still victims of sexism on a daily basis. “
Protest
Last Sunday, September 13, a number of women took off their outerwear in the main hall of Musée d’Orsay. They wrote slogans on their bodies like “women’s bodies will never be obscene” and “obscenity is in your head”.
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