La réaffirmation et la réinvention saint-simoniennes du masculin : pour une lecture nouvelle d’un féminisme originel

Résumé En

Under the influence of 1970s feminism, the study of gender in Saint Simonianism has emphasised the movement’s pioneering contribution to women’s emancipation, while also highlighting the contradiction according to which women were initially included, and then excluded, from the organisation. This article offers an explanation for this practical contradiction and the theoretical difficulty that arises. It argues that Saint Simonian reasoning should in fact be understood as reconstructing difference and the inequality of sexed roles on grounds that did indeed represent progress and modernisation compared to the old system, but nonetheless aimed to preserve masculine supremacy in the field of production, and consequently in the field of power. Rereading Saint Simonian texts, symbols and actions through this interpretative lens reveals that Enfantin constantly strove to promote a new model of masculinity and paternity that was appropriate to industrial society, and in order to do this he integrated certain values considered as feminine such as pacifism, compassion or a taste for art. Those involved were motivated in this evolution because they were aware of, and in fact shared, a personal suffering that was specifically masculine. This is partly expressed and resolved through a sometimes heightened homosociality, which provides one of the more significant aspects of the corpus analysed.