A group of female journalists in France has said that it was time to end the "lascivious paternalism" to which women journalists were routinely subjected to in the French corridors of power.
A lengthy article in Liberation listed examples of sexual harassment where it was also mentioned that a presidential candidate refused to answer questions from male journalists but spoke to a woman reporter because she wore a pretty dress, the Independent reported.
The article said they thought that the Dominique Strauss Kahn affair had started a new era and the macho habits, which symbolise old fashioned politics and attitudes, were on the way to extinction.
Another example cited was that politician and friend of President Francois Hollande claimed that he only liked journalists with big breasts.
The women concluded that as long as politics remains mostly in the hands of heterosexual, 60-something males, nothing will change.