Gender!

Marseille, june 2019.

The station is punctuated by the dance of the metal monsters arriving and leaving the platforms. Regional, high-speed, freight-transporting trains, all have a special profile, move with their characteristic noise, and display distinctive colors and markings. The familiarity of the situation is however broken by the arrival of a rather special specimen. At first glance, a classic line of wagons, sometimes wearing a silver metallic dress, sometimes a navy blue set, but with a striking graphic design. While the display of several multicolored logos is now typical of advertising marketing, the slogan repeated from one car to another puzzles: “the SNCF train in the feminine”. What’s this all about? Why such an emphasis? Hasn’t the feminine accompanied the railway since its beginnings with the famous locomotives and michelines? Is it a policy to promote female staff beyond reception and sound announcements? Nothing like that. The operation brings together the first women’s company network in France, and consists of meeting the employees of the SNCF Group. It is intended to be experiential and immersive, with onboard lectures, workshops and testimonials dedicated to self-development and the fight against sexism. Punctuated by stops in seven French cities, geographical mobility seems to be conceived as a real pilgrimage. At the same time, the relocation of the seminar room to mobile equipped wagons shows that the company itself is on the move, capable of moving towards a new horizon, conducive to the occupational gender mix and professional mobility for women.