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Travail, Genre et Sociétés asked three historians, including two Franco-Americans, to reflect on why and how gender studies, studies on sexuality and women’s studies developed so differently on either side of the Atlantic. Several dimensions are tapped in the three-voice interview that resulted from this request: the idea of a French backwardness in comparison to American advancement; institutional blocking and resistance; the role of magazines, friendship and militant networks in the transatlantic circulation of ideas; and a plurality of approaches that is characteristic of those studies in either country. Through this rich and diverse discussion, the pioneer role played by gender studies in the epistemological evolution of human sciences since the 1970's becomes apparent.