The Mikros Animation Paris studio team asked Bérénice Antoine what International Women’s Rights Day meant to her and if she considered herself a feminist. Find all her answers here:

What does the international women’s rights day mean to you?

It’s an awareness day that unfortunately is often represented as “Women’s Day”, and used for commercial purposes. It’s supposed to be a day to talk about how much changes have to be done, even in France we are not at the equality we could be aiming for. This day could be useful by focusing on the political and activist aspect.

What do you think could be improved in your professional life?

As I said, we don’t have equal pay everywhere. There are several reasons for this. For a long time, this profession was essentially male, and it’s only recently that there have been so many women. Also, there is an overall patriarchal view that women in technical fields are “less good”, whereas we have the same level and the same experience. We also dare to sell ourselves less, because we are more sensitive to the impostor syndrome. Men too, but they are more easily valued in their work. I didn’t have this problem at Mikros Animation, but in other companies, I may have been the last person to be consulted, faced with male colleagues whith less experiences than me. When talking to female colleagues, we all felt that we were not taken into account. These are things that you can feel.

Do you consider yourself a feminist?

Yes, and I start by educating myself, that’s where it starts. It’s already quite a task to understand our own internalized sexism, because of a patriarchal society. We have to deconstruct a whole thought pattern, question our education, it’s complicated. We can’t be perfect but it’s a start. We try to educate our relatives but we really educate them by educating ourselves. You can’t wait for other feminists and activists to educate you.

Is there any work that has inspired or touched you as a woman?

It’s a real 1990’s cliché but my inspiration was Buffy, Vampire Slayer. There are some c***s in the show though, but the Buffy character was funny and at the same time she was tattooing vampires. She wasn’t a cliché of a fragile girl, she was very strong and inspiring.

Thank you Bérénice!