At Balzac Paris, supporting women's rights is a commitment 365 days a year. Thanks to the sales of our Les Femmes sweatshirt (in recycled cotton and recycled polyester), we have already donated together €15,950 to the Women's Foundation, which works for women's rights and the fight against the violence of which they are victims.

Being TPR (Always More Responsible) also means always going further together in our actions. Today, we are donating 10% of the day's sales to the Women's Foundation .

Discover the interview with Chrysoline de Gastines , founder of Balzac Paris, and Anne-Cécile Mailfert , co-founder and president of the Fondation des Femmes .

ANNE-CÉCILE MAILFERT

Hello to all those who read us, my name is Anne-Cécile Mailfert and I am president of the Women's Foundation , the reference foundation in France for women's rights and the fight against the violence of which they are victims. I co-founded this foundation with a large number of volunteers almost 6 years ago! To give us a few figures, since its creation, the Women's Foundation has donated more than 5 million euros, helped more than 100,000 women , and donated more than 1 million hygienic products.

GASTINES CHRYSOLINE

Hello everyone, I am Chrysoline de Gastines and I co-founded Balzac Paris with my associates Charles and Victorien. So I am basically a woman in the middle of men ! But the trend was quickly reversed because at Balzac Paris today we are almost only women in the team. 

Anne-Cécile, today I am the mother of two little girls and a little boy , and I would have liked to know if you think that, tomorrow, if we educate our little boys well, this will have a real impact on the situation. women in the world?

ANNE-CÉCILE MAILFERT

For sure ! I don't believe there is a "violent" gene on the Y chromosome. When we look at the journey of a violent man, this often goes hand in hand with a very bad upbringing of girls, for example because there have been violent male models towards women in the surroundings. Educating his boys is obviously essential. This is also one of the subjects on which we alerted the government 6 months ago: we must of course help women because it is an emergency situation, but we must not forget that we must also see in the long term and that the situation cannot improve if girls AND boys are educated. It's not enough to educate girls to defend themselves if opposite we don't educate little boys not to try to crush girls!

GASTINES CHRYSOLINE

Do we achieve equality between men and women with this or could we tend towards a situation where the roles risk being reversed?

ANNE-CÉCILE MAILFERT

No feminist ever wishes to replicate what men do to women on the contrary. No feminist wants to establish a system that can recreate these inequalities, this injustice and this violence, on the contrary! What we want is a more peaceful, fairer and more egalitarian system . That we are not reduced to our gender and that we are not reduced to speeches of the type “if you are a girl, then you go to such and such a box”. If you are a girl, you do what you want in life, and if you are a boy, you do what you want in life, simply according to your qualities and skills!

GASTINES CHRYSOLINE

Around what age do you think we can make children aware of all these questions?

ANNE-CÉCILE MAILFERT

Little girls start feeling less intelligent than boys at age 6 ! So there is not really an age... A few years ago we made a video called "You will be a man my son" which showed several scenes of life shared by children, young and old. boys accompanied by an older male figure (a dad, a coach...). The video explains that "you will be a man my son" when you learn to manage your anger , to accept failure in front of a girl, to look at a woman without her being afraid of you... And that finally "you you'll be a man my son" when you learn to respect women , and it starts young! Violence against women is not just a women's affair , the role of men is above all to teach and set an example for other men, especially little boys.

GASTINES CHRYSOLINE

Thank you Anne-Cécile for this exchange and thank you again for this great collaboration . With this Women's sweatshirt, we really wanted to talk about freedom , "you are free to be what you want, be proud"! And we are very proud that this sweatshirt raised €15,950 to support the Women 's Foundation . For all those who have not purchased the sweatshirt, what simple actions can they take to support the Women's Foundation ?

ANNE-CÉCILE MAILFERT

It's true that as soon as I wear my Les Femmes sweatshirt, I feel more in the job! Thanks also to Balzac Paris for trusting us for this collaboration. For all those who want to support the Women's Foundation, it's very simple! In tribute to March 8 (Editor's note: International Women's Rights Day), you can donate 8 euros every 8th of the month. After tax exemption, this donation only costs you €2... That's the price of a café on the terrace in Paris!