Former international Melissa Plaza did not like Hervé Renard’s talk at all before Brazil-France, and deplores the enhancement of virility in football. The one who is now a doctoral student in psychosocial studies sees it as the symbol of a patriarchal society.
Have you seen Hervé Renard’s speech, which motivates his players before France-Brazil during the 2023 World Cup? Melissa Plaza too. And the former Montpellier and Lyon player did not like what she discovered at all.
“It’s a speech in which the guy spends his time screaming, the tone is so loud that the ear saturates and it makes the speech more hollow than it already is, she laments in an interview with So Foot. So it no longer has any effect. You see that a lot in football, unfortunately. That’s what I regret a bit. When you look at the comments on Twitter, everyone finds it cool to be yelled at for, half an hour, 45 minutes… But if he is able to do that in front of the cameras, you have to imagine what he is able to do when the camera is not there. You also have to imagine that we find this discourse during the chat, training sessions, matches… ”
“People don’t realize that these virile attitudes, this gesture, she regrets. Because there is the tone, but there is also the gesture. He spends his time banging his fist in his hand, making extremely abrupt gestures, etc. These gestures and these manly attitudes are something you find when you see him at the end of the match addressing the referees in an extremely shocking way, almost threatening them, you have to see that all of that is a spectrum. »
THANKS @sofoot for the interest in the subject 🙏🏻
Find the full interview here: https://t.co/pfJ6VAI8d8 pic.twitter.com/Xo1VyXMXK2
— Melissa Plaza (@melissa_plaza) August 3, 2023
Former French international (2 selections), Mélissa Plaza is now a doctoral student in psychosocial. She develops her point in the interview, advocating a less “manly” approach in motivational speeches, more based on intelligence and emotion. According to her, strong speeches like that of Renard are a reflection of a patriarchal society. “It is high time that we stop valuing virility like that. To fight against patriarchy is also to fight against all the components of patriarchy. And in the components of the patriarchy, you find this virilism, this toxic masculinity, which appears in this speech by Hervé Renard. »
According to Mélissa Plaza, this speech would simply not have received the same reception if it had been delivered by a woman. “I made a video to make fun of this chat and a woman shared with me on Twitter the comment of one of her children who had watched my video and replied: “She is crazy! When it’s in a woman’s mouth, you immediately cry hysteria, whereas when it’s in a man’s mouth, you find it fabulous. Men have the right to be authoritarian, to have outbursts of anger, to be virile, violent, virulent… We forgive them. Society allows them. It’s called impunity. »
Hervée Renarde prepares you for the baccalaureate!
💙🤍❤️ #benevolentmanagement #maybe #EDF #parodyTHANKS #Neimad 🎥😘 pic.twitter.com/2gmvlXW7Qz
— Melissa Plaza (@melissa_plaza) August 1, 2023
