I Hate Men: if writer Pauline Harmange had anticipated the attention she might not have written it at all
Pauline Harmange’s polemic against men, with all its contradictions and incompleteness, would not have come to the world’s attention had it not been for a man intent on taking offence without even reading it
I Hate Men by Pauline Harmange (translated by Natasha Lehrer), Fourth Estate
When, some future day, French feminists erect a monument to those who have furthered the cause, the name Ralph Zurmély will surely deserve a special mention. He’s the male who, in the summer, objected to a book called Moi les hommes, je les déteste – I Hate Men – and threatened its publisher, Monstrograph, with criminal prosecution.
As is so often the case, Zurmély – who works for France’s Ministry of Gender Equality – hadn’t actually read what he wanted to ban. The title and publisher’s blurb were enough.
You probably won’t be surprised to learn what happened next. Monstrograph, despite the name, is a tiny firm that expected to shift maybe 450 copies. Thousands of French sales, and a 10-publisher auction later, I Hate Men is now available in English, as well as German (Ich hasse Männer) and Spanish (Hombres, los odio).
Meanwhile, Pauline Harmange, the 25-year-old from Lille who wrote it, has been so overwhelmed by the response she has now retreated from the media onslaught.
Along with the happy things and great opportunities this spotlight brought, I am living the most stressful months of my life
“Along with the happy things and great opportunities this spotlight brought, I am living the most stressful months of my life and I really miss sleeping,” she emails from France, in response to a written list of questions. (Je déteste the Q&A but she won’t do Zoom.)