The ministry told Mediapart that Zurmély, who it appeared had read only the title and the publishers’ description of I Hate Men, had acted on his own initiative. When the story was picked up by the French investigative website Mediapart, the publishers went ahead with a reprint. It seemed outrageous that he was more concerned about censoring a small feminist book instead of doing his job.” This man works for the secretary of state for equality between men and women, whose mission is to do something about sexual assaults and rapes.

As a precaution they didn’t print any more. But the first print had already been sold so the publishers decided to send the books out and see what happened. Harmange said: “We were a little afraid to start with. I would like to remind you that incitement to hatred on the basis of sex is a criminal offence! Consequently, I ask you to immediately remove this book from your catalogue under penalty of criminal prosecution,” Zurmély wrote. “This book is obviously an ode to misandry (= hatred of men), both in terms of the summary on your site and in reading its title. I Hate Men was published on 19 August when much of France was enjoying the summer holiday, and it almost certainly would have passed unnoticed had Ralph Zurmély, an adviser to France’s gender equality ministry, not written to threaten legal action. “What if women have good reasons to detest men? What if anger towards men is in fact a joyful and emancipating path when it is allowed to express itself?” Harmange writes. The book says defending misandry is liberating and can create space for sorority and sisterhood. I realise this sounds like a violent sentiment, but I feel strongly we should be allowed to not love them as a whole and make exceptions for certain men.” She added: “If we are heterosexual we are encouraged to like men, but we should absolutely have the right not to like them. I can state for a fact that the majority of aggressors are men.”

This comes less from personal experience than from being an activist in a feminist organisation that helps the victims of rape and sexual assault for several years. But in general I mistrust men I don’t know,” Harmange said. “I am married to a man, who is great and really supports my writing. The 96-page essay opens with a quote from Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar – “The trouble was, I hated the idea of serving men in any way” – and it explores whether women have good reason to hate men. Moi les hommes, je les déteste, by Pauline Harmange.

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