some workshops

In the 21st century, the women Masons of the Grande Loge Féminine de France have a double responsibility: to transmit the tools and values which they have received, but also to light the way to a society with more awareness, more fraternity, more justice. They are especially attentive to the advancement of women, the respect of their rights and their dignity.

The Lodges are meant to be laboratories of ideas where social matters are explored extensively. Below are some examples of topics that the Lodges have studied over the years:

   •  

1949: "Is our civilization decadent"?

   •  

1952: "Education and "laïcité" *

   •  

1965: "Women and civic education"

   •  

1980: "Problems of minorities and the place of outcasts in society"

   •  

1984: "Have we created a welfare society?"

   •  

1992: "Role and commitment of the woman in society and in the world"

   •  

1998: "Teaching a child, is not filling a vase, but lighting a fire"...

Collective researches such as these find their development in society by way of individual activism as well as public involvement of the Grande Loge Féminine de France.

Each woman Mason has the responsibility to promote the values in which she believes, of tolerance, equity, justice and the respect of others.

However, in order to respect its rich diversity of points of view and to prevent any risk of being manipulated, the Grande Loge Féminine de France, as a body, excludes any tie with political organizations.

The chain of union of the Freemasons of the Grande Loge Féminine de France intends to transcend ethnic, social and religious barriers, and all its public expression means to be of ethical nature, whenever the fundamental values of Freemasonry are violated.

The Grande Loge Féminine de France is actively involved in societal debates: laws on contraception and abortion, parity, bio-ethics, "laïcité".. as well as in actions of solidarity for victims of wars or natural disasters, or in the support of humanitarian organisations...

When the rights of women are flouted or the fundamental principles of the Republic jeopardized, it reacts through press releases, or takes part in demonstrations, such as the ones organized in September 2001 in support of Afghan women, in May 2002, during the presidential elections, to defend Republican values, in March 2003 in support of ghetto women's protest.
Manifestation nationale de soutien aux femmes d'Afghanistan, le 29 septembre 2001

The Grande Loge Féminine de France periodically organizes symposia on topics whose stakes are fundamental for women, such as:

   •  

1974: "Conception and abortion: women have the floor" (co-organized with the Grand Orient de France).

   •  

1975: "Women: myths to destroy, reality to build"

   •  

1993: "Role and commitment of women in society and in the world"

   •  

2000: "Women of Europe and elsewhere: together, let's think the world."

   •  

2001: "Human dignity", symposium co-organized by five Grand Lodges.

   •  

2002: "To be born, to live, to die: the destinies of mankind"

* The concept of "laïcité" has no English equivalent. The approximate translation is "secularism".