When Pauline Harmange, a French aspiring writer, published a book on hatred of men, she expected to sell at least 200 copies to friends and readers of her blog.
Instead, after being threatened by a government official with legal action, her book "Moi les hommes, je les déteste" (I hate men) had a sales boom. At first 450 copies were sold, and then another 2500. Monstrograph, the mini-publishing house, said there is an overload and no other copies will be published unless a larger publisher comes to the rescue.
Pauline Harmange is 25 years old and is facing a literary and political "storm". She lives in Lille, France, with her husband, Mathieu, and their cat, Eleven.
"I did not expect that. It was a big surprise. It is the first time I have published a book. I also wrote a novel, but it was never published. " She told the Guardian.
Her essay opens with a quote from Sylvia Plath, "The problem was, I hated the idea that I should serve men," and claims to find out if women have reason to hate men.
“Unë jam martuar me një burrë, i cili është i shkëlqyeshëm dhe vërtet mbështet shkrimet e mia. Por në përgjithësi unë nuk besoj te burrat që nuk i njoh. Thjesht nuk kam besim tek ata. Kjo vjen më pak nga përvoja personale dhe më shumë nga të qenit aktiviste në një organizatë feministe që ndihmon viktimat e përdhunimit dhe sulmit seksual. Unë mund të deklaroj një fakt, që shumica e agresorëve janë burra,” tha Pauline.
Ajo shtoi:
“Nëse jemi heteroseksualë, ne inkurajohemi të pëlqejmë burrat, por duhet të kemi absolutisht të drejtën që të mos na pëlqejmë. E kuptoj që kjo tingëllon si një ndjenjë e dhunshme, por ndjej me forcë se duhet të lejohemi të mos i duam ata si një e tërë dhe të bëjmë përjashtime për burra të caktuar.”
"I Hate Men" was published on August 19 when most of France was enjoying the summer holidays and very few people would have bought it if Ralph Zurmély, a gender equality adviser at the Ministry of Europe and Externally, he would not have written that he would take legal action.
Source: Guardian, Madame Figaro
