#BalanceTonPorc (“Expose Your Pig” or “Out Your Pig”) was French feminist hashtag launched October 13, 2017 by journalist Sandra Muller, two days after #MeToo went viral following Harvey Weinstein allegations. The deliberately provocative phrase encouraged French women to publicly name sexual harassers and abusers, sparking massive participation and intense debate about limits of online accusations versus due process.
French MeToo Adaptation
While #MeToo emphasized solidarity among survivors, #BalanceTonPorc’s confrontational tone reflected French feminist frustration with endemic workplace harassment and cultural normalization of predatory behavior. Muller’s initial tweet named an unnamed French media executive’s explicit sexual comments, quickly inspiring thousands of women to share experiences and name perpetrators. Within 48 hours, the hashtag appeared in over 200,000 tweets, making it France’s dominant social conversation.
Cultural Backlash
French intellectual establishment, including prominent feminists like Catherine Deneuve and Catherine Millet, published open letter in Le Monde (January 2018) criticizing #BalanceTonPorc as “puritanical” witch hunt threatening sexual freedom and due process. The letter distinguished between criminal assault and clumsy seduction attempts, arguing Anglo-Saxon feminism imposed restrictive sexuality norms. This sparked bitter debates about consent, power dynamics, and whether French “sexual liberty” discourse masked rape culture.
Legal Consequences
Media executive Eric Brion sued Sandra Muller for defamation in 2018, winning €15,000 in damages in 2019 (reduced to €15,000 symbolic euro on appeal). The case chilled some #BalanceTonPorc participation but reinforced feminist arguments that legal systems protected powerful men. The hashtag’s legacy included strengthened French workplace harassment laws (2018) and ongoing tensions between Anglo-American and French feminist approaches to sexuality, consent, and public accusations.
Sources: Le Monde (2018), New York Times (2017, 2019), Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society (2020)