PARITY - A MALE VIEW

This paper presents the view of a man active in organizations which ha ve advocated parity for the past eight years (Arc-en-Ciel, Les Verts). First, the author examines the possible aims of parity. It could stri ve to reduce men-women inequalities or, complementarily, to assert the gender difference within political equality (''mixedness''). This deb ate is quite irrelevant to the essentialism controversy. Second, the i nstruments of parity are reviewed: mere goodwill is ineffectual, espec ially with respect to the selection of candidates, but simple, effecti ve and legitimate voting systems do exist. They have substantially tra nsformed the actual political relations between the sexes in the Frenc h Green movement and have set an example.