ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that there are discursive frameworks, mappings of the space of politics in the first round of the presidential elections, which might help people to locate the apparently invisible women. It examines the discursive tactics which used by marginalised women presidential candidates to engage with the processes of politics. The chapter also argues that the self-presentation of three women in the presidential elections - the ways that they challenge from the margins - is highly relevant to the geography of women's engagement with the space of politics in France. The three women candidates are: Christine Boutin, Corinne Lepage and Christiane Taubira. The chapter suggests that there is some evidence that the space of politics in presidential elections could be enlarged much more broadly, to include political cyberspace. The 2002 elections have illustrated both the limits of equal access parité and the need to continue challenging accepted definitions of 'the political'.
