Bridges to Feminism

Abstract Bridges to Feminism explores how popular mid-twentieth-century French journalists Marcelle Auclair and Marcelle Ségal contributed to changing ideas about women, gender, and family life. In postwar France, Auclair at Marie-Claire and Ségal at Elle Magazine inspired fierce reader loyalty as they dialogued with their readers about their lives as women. This biography looks at how their personal experiences gave them a broader vision of how women should live. As children they both experienced being “foreigners,” Ségal’s Jewish parents immigrated from Russia, Auclair’s family moved to Santiago, Chile, when she was 7. As they came of age, both Ségal and Auclair took the expected path of marriage and motherhood. But death, abandonment, and adultery destroyed their marriages, leaving them both having to figure out how to support themselves. Personal struggles gave Ségal and Auclair empathy and taught them survival skills that they shared with their readers. In the 1950s and 1960s, they used their platforms at Marie-Claire and Elle to empower women, encouraging them to find their way, look out for themselves, and recognize their own strengths. By the early 1960s Auclair, moved by the anguished letters she received, used her media presence to take on the issue of reproductive rights. Ségal and Auclair encouraged, validated, and empowered women to go beyond convention, building bridges to feminism.