Is Royal progressive enough for France?

By Kerstin Gehmlich

PARIS (Reuters) - The women of France agree electing a female president would be a giant step forward for a nation which has treated career women poorly.

However, feminists are split over whether presidential hopeful Segolene Royal is the best person to advance their fight for equal rights in a country where a revolutionary heroine is the national symbol.

To some, the Socialist mother of four is a perfect example of a woman who has managed to balance the pressures of career and family.

Others, ranging from business leaders to feminist campaigners, say Royal's image of the family is too traditional and she has lent weight to the "woman as victim" idea by accusing her rivals of chauvinism.

Compared with Germany's Angela Merkel, who talked little about her gender and wore no-nonsense black trouser suits on her way to becoming chancellor, Royal has built her campaign around the image of a youthful, feminine leader.

Sporting floating skirts and a trademark white jacket for her speeches, she has portrayed her philosophy as that of "a mother", played up her feminist past and accused male rivals of sexism.

The media have been fascinated by Royal, calling her stylish, pretty and even a "sexy Socialist". Paparazzi photos of Royal in a turquoise bathing suit excited papers for a week last year.

"It's much harder for a woman," Royal told millions of French during a recent TV debate. She said she was facing more attacks on her competence than a man would.

FAR FROM EQUAL

"I'm horrified by women who victimize themselves," said Tita Zeitoun, founder of the Action de Femme group which fights to get more women into top business positions.

Figures show women in France are far from equal. Just 12 percent of lawmakers are female and only one woman heads a firm in the CAC-40 index of blue chip companies, and she is American.

Royal, who hardly ever wears trousers, has promised to promote the equal treatment of men and women in the work place if she is elected, and to combat violence against women.

Surveys show she has more fans among women than men.

Some 53 percent of women would vote for her in the second round of the April/May poll but only 47 percent of men, according to a recent LH2 survey. Overall, that poll saw Royal and her center-right rival Nicolas Sarkozy level.

Royal's ability to combine her political career with raising four children could actually alienate some voters with less conventional backgrounds.