As more and more women find themselves uniting against the shared adversary that is unwanted sexual advances by men, another group of women - including French actress Catherine Deneuve - are fighting against what they describe as a 'witch-hunt' against men who have simply been 'flirting'.

Catherine Deneuve at a Louis Vuitton eventCatherine Deneuve at a Louis Vuitton event

The 74-year-old 'Belle de Jour' star is among a group of 100 women who signed a recent letter in Le Monde, denouncing the 'Puritanism' of the #MeToo movement and influx of accusations against men who have committed assaults against women. Other signatories included actress Catherine Robbe-Grillet, author Catherine Millet, anti-feminist writer Abnousse Shalmani and philosopher Peggy Sastre.

'Rape is a crime but insistent or clumsy flirting is not', the letter said. 'Men have been punished summarily, forced out of their jobs when all they did was touch someone's knee or try to steal a kiss.' 

'Instead of helping women, this frenzy to send these (male chauvinist) 'pigs' to the abattoir actually helps the enemies of sexual liberty - religious extremists and the worst sort of reactionaries', it continued.

It is important to note that the group of women who signed this letter felt that the exposure of certain individuals, such as Harvey Weinstein, was a necessary step. However, they feel that other accusations against men, such as 'talking about intimate subjects during professional dinners or for sending sexually-charged messages to women', are insulting to the conversation about actual sexual violence against women, particularly in the workplace.

The letter goes on to slam the #MeToo campaign, which, in their opinion, means certain individuals are not not being given the chance to give their side of the story. Curiously, the women who signed the letter do not believe that this new feminist movement is a step forward for women, believing that women are now being forced to 'speak in the right way, to keep quiet about what makes them angry, with those who refuse to obey regarded as traitors and accomplices'.

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'It is the characteristic of Puritanism to borrow, in the name of a so-called general good, the arguments of the protection of women and their emancipation to bind them to the status of eternal victims', it went on. 'Poor little things under the influence of the demon patriarchy, as in the good old days of witchcraft.'