Since 1958 and the beginning of the Fifth Republic, the French presidency has been constructed and consolidated as a masculine institution. Furthermore, all presidential elections can be considered as a key moment for politicising issues relating to sex and gender. The 2017 presidential campaign is more specific. Since 2000, the mechanisms designed to ensure gender equality have been strengthened, such that they are now an unavoidable norm in political competition. In a context of dramatic political change, the hierarchy of political issues is affected. This article looks back over François Hollande’s 5-year term from this perspective, before drawing on an analysis of campaign materials and press coverage. The small proportion of women candidates and the marginalisation of gender issues in the programmes testify to the fragile nature of ‘egalitarian good will.’ Gender and sexuality did, however, offer a means for other power relations to be expressed, in relation to different conceptions of nationalism and both class and race relations.