"It's a snub to stand up to Mr. Ciotti," said Clémentine Autain arriving, green tie around her neck, with her rebellious colleagues in session.
Mr. Ciotti, quaestor of the Assembly, wished last week "the obligation to wear a tie" in the hemicycle, reproaching in particular certain elected officials of rebellious France "more and more relaxed outfits".
The idea of imposing the wearing of a tie at the Palais Bourbon "seems to us to be deeply reactionary, and closed for women since it is a male fashion accessory", insisted Clémentine Autain, denouncing a form of "class contempt" .
"We need to think about this Assembly in the mix", added the elected representative of Seine-Saint-Denis.
The leader of the rebellious deputies Mathilde Panot estimated that behind the controversy over the tie which has been agitating the Palais Bourbon for several days arises "the question of the place of women in the Assembly".
"Apparently for Mr. Ciotti, some on the right and on the far right, the presence of women is not yet accepted," she said.
Ms. Panot denounced the "sexist remarks here and there, on the way we dress, or the shape of our bodies".
“Women simply by speaking are scolded, they are asked to be quiet and they cannot speak in an infernal heckling just because they are women,” added Ms. Autain.
By wearing the tie "we say it with humor, but we are angry", she underlined.
The LFI group had already replied to Mr. Ciotti by emphasizing that "the clothes do not make the deputy".
The President of the Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet returned to the controversy in a column on Tuesday in Liberation, recalling that the rules of the institution provide that "the dress adopted by the deputies in the hemicycle must remain neutral and resemble a city outfit".
"In short, a free parliament is also a parliament where you dress freely, but not just anyhow," said Ms. Braun-Pivet.
© 2022 AFP