A media polemic has broken out because a Deputy (ie MP) called the president of an organisation "Madame LE president" and not Mme LA presidente as she demanded. Even the Academie Francaise, the custodian of the French language, has given an opinion, saying that job titles may be feminised, but not offices.
This story has been in all the written and broadcast media, including overseas. The MP concerned, Julien Aubert, has written an open letter to all "citoyens" - though not "citoyennes" - condemning what he sees as Orwellian "newspeak" invading the right of freedom of expression in traditional ways. Aubert seems to be prolonging what many see as a waste of time and effort over a minor point of grammar. His argument is that he put forward hundreds of amendments to proposed laws and virtually no media bothered to report it, but one little non-pc use of grammar and he is all over the papers.
Perhaps his amendments were just too boring, but he is having his 15 minutes of fame with a little "voyelle" (vowel) as he puts it.
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