Qu’elle soit concrète ou symbolique, la souillure, dont témoignent certaines vieilles femmes, est le résultat d’une assignation familiale, sociale et historique. Une force de vie particulière leur a fait assumer la place de l’Autre, provoquant un phénomène d’attraction collective. Voir cette vieille femme, la sentir, la toucher, la rencontrer dans son lieu et l’écouter s’inscrit dans l’ordre des expériences initiatiques que la société de Progrès ne ritualise plus, mais que le quotidien préserve en réponse à une nécessité intime, mythique et collective. Par miroitements, ces femmes ont incarné les multiples facettes du personnage de la vieille dans la littérature orale où s’imposent l’éthique et la quête de dignité. Raconter « les affaires du pays », dans le Morvan du XXe et du XXIe siècles, en parlant patois et en évoquant avec précaution la Vieille Femme construit un îlot de résistance au récit dominant, un espace collectif de libération et en même temps un dérivatif permettant d’accepter l’Histoire. / Whether real or symbolic, the stained image displayed by some unclean old women is the result of a historic, social and family-set assignment. The singular strength of character shown by these women has placed them in the position of being perceived as 'the Other', bringing about a phenomenon of group attraction. Seeing the old woman, sensing her smell, touching her, meeting her at her home and listening to her: these are experiences like rites of passage, that modern society does not provide anymore. But these experiences are still present in our everyday life as a response to an intimate, mythical and societal need. Like a mirror, these women have embodied the multiple aspects of the ‘old woman’, as a character found in oral literature where ethics and the search for dignity are essential. Talking about "local matters", in Morvan of 20th -21st, speaking in regional language (patois) and in gentle terms about these old women so different from ourselves, creates a platform of resistance against dominant references and constitutes a collective way to feel free and a helpful diversion to be able to accept History.

This study explores experiences of public sexual harassment among young women in the UKin light of a renewed focus on violence against women after Sarah Everard was raped andmurdered while walking home during lockdown. Thirteen young women were interviewed while this case dominated British media and public debate. The paper’s focuses is on how this cohort problematise street based harassment - how they encounter, negotiate and contextualise it at this time. The study uses qualitative methods of feminist phenomenology and narrative analysis. Participants describe everyday street harassments as a serious problem that regularly impactson their daily life and freedoms, while being sidelined and trivialised by wider society. They reject that it is a minor problem or a compliment, and push back about the onus being on them to problem solve and do safety work to avoid men’s violence and intrusions in public.They challenge the idea this is not worth talking about by telling their stories, particularly online. Collective storytelling is a form of agency and activism that empowers women to reframe social issues according to their own lived realities and terms. Two principle narratives emerge from the storytelling: resistance to mainstream ‘givens’, and positioning street harassment as a form of gender based violence that targets women as an entity. Participants situate VAW as men’s issue - men need to engage and address this social problem.