By Ségolène Pruvot (Photos: La domination masculine/Elzèvir Film) The masculine domination is the title of a book by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu published in 1998, in which he describes how discrimination is perpetuated in society. It is also a sentence you can currently read in capital letters in the streets of Paris printed on top of a cinema advertisement poster that displays women hands knitting red and pink woollen male genitals. The image is both ironic and sad: ironic because the knitted woollen genitals seem ridiculous, and sad because this image of a woman seems absurd but plausible. One can easily imagine that the woman may strive to become a man or that she simply nicely prepares something that will please her man or men in general. European feminists’ mobilisation against new forms of conservatism increases. Today in Europe, the rise of new conservatism seems to exacerbate both attacks towards gender equality and the willingness of feminists to fight it at the European level, by using all means of mobilisation: cinema, documentaries largely broadcasted on the internet, demonstrations, etc. In Italy, the collusion between Berlusconi’s conservative and ‘show’ politics and machismo is well known. Lorella Zanardo, a well known feminist, has decided to denounce the rise of machismo and the increasing number of abuses of female images in a 20 minute documentary ‘the bodies of women’, largely commented and broadcasted on the web in three languages. A quick watch of the documentary is paralysing: one sees a succession of images of prime time TV shows in which young women are humiliated in public by older men or older women, images of similar women’s faces which plastic surgery has annihilated possibility to express a large variety of feelings. In France, we have mentioned the sarcastic approach taken by the director of the movie the masculine domination, a feminist young man, who also happily describes how he has to fight against himself when he catches himself in situations of using the facilities given by his position as male. Feminists’ movements and a collective of organisations also led to a large mobilisation in the streets of Paris on the 17th of October to denounce continuing forms of exclusion. Conversely, on the same day - the 17th of October, in Spain, an anti-abortion demonstration was organised in Madrid to protest against the extension of the legal period during which a woman is allowed to abort. The legal changes went through and the demonstration was less followed than people were afraid of but it is symptomatic of the tension between conservatism and women rights movements that is currently at play in Europe. Because gender inequality survives in all European nation-states, the rationale for feminists to develop and strengthen transnational feminists’ movements is stronger than ever before. Comparisons can be used to reveal the variety of forms the masculine domination takes in the day to day life and therefore the tools to fight it more efficiently. The discussion on ‘one third of women in the European Commission’ reveals the scale of changes needed in Europe to pave the way for gender equality. The discussion around the nomination of the European Commission, which took place at the beginning of November, is a good example to look at issues regarding gender equality in Europe and possible solutions based on the potential of Europe as opposed to the locked situations in many member states. The discussion on the new European Commission focused on the fact that it may include only a very restricted number of women. Mobilisation of citizens groups, of members of the European Parliament, of women commissioners was therefore organised to achieve the aim of reaching a quota of one third of women in the new European Commission. The fact that a strong mobilisation had to take place to ensure that there will be at least a few women in the commission sheds light on how unequal access to political space generally remains in EU Member States all around Europe. In this context, the application of quotas appeared useful and needed. Otherwise the situation would remain extremely unequal. But it also shows how, if member states are the only decision force, the EU may just replicate the situation that exists in member states; that of a democracy made and dominated by men. So far, the designation of the commissioners has been left in the hands of the leaders of member states, each of whom decides in secret and on unclear criteria who the national candidate will be. This type of process encourages the choice of one’s peer - often a middle-aged white man who has had the opportunity to get to important positions at the national level. It is not favourable to new political personalities. Proposing a quota was a simple means to break this tendency. However it does not set the ground for radical change and avoid the replication of the situation every five years. It is somehow surprising that the president of the commission, the institution representative of European interests, cannot choose her or his team. Thus if the President of the commission was choosing a team among candidates proposed by political groupings European citizens vote for, this team would probably be more equal and less linked to the interests of national country’s prime ministers. The instauration of more democratic process to define who should make decisions in Europe may be the only way to ensure equality in the long run. By opening-up access to high positions to people who are less ‘in the system’ of national politics and national states, such a process would also go beyond what is possible at the national level. The end of the masculine domination is not a natural process that will necessarily take place. It has to be closely followed and accompanied, if one does not want to run the risk of the perpetuation of inequality that makes of a once relevant title (such as the masculine domination), a still relevant title more than ten years later. Obstacles to ensuring equality may seem unlimited but there are still ways to make the masculine domination break down. The European construction provides for feminists opportunities to challenge institutionalised forms of domination at the national level, by means of comparisons between the institutions of ‘domination’. In the EU, change is still possible and the balance of powers not fixed. Europe provides the ground for the institution of a more equal political space. A more equal political space is not enough to ensure a more gender equal society but it is one of its prerequisites. A more equal political space would also, more generally, ensure a more equal society for all type of interests and people and not only those defined by quotas.