la barbe

La Barbe
la barbe activists are forcibly removed from the french senate
photograph: la barbe

french feminism is back – with beards

for many, the words "french" and "feminism" sound like a hilarious oxymoron. but on 23 may, a few days after dominique strauss-kahn's arrest in new york, thousands of women gathered in paris to protest against the sexism expressed by (mostly male) politicians and men of influence in the french media. [...]

la barbe ("the beard" – which also means "enough!" or "boring!" in old french slang) is emblematic of this resurgence. members of the collective appear regularly on the front pages, sporting their fake beards. [...] women wearing fake beards take the stage and stand silently in front of the array of individuals in suits and ties to underscore the pervasive over-representation of men in places where important decisions are made. they hand out an humorous flyers to the public, congratulating men on successfully keeping "harpies and gossips" out of their ranks and maintaining all power within their wonderfully firm male grasp. [...] full article at guardian.com

by the way:

bjork courtesy of the manchester international festival
Bjork at Manchester International Festival
björk will be premiering her biophilla live show at manchester film festival 30 june-17 july. biophilia is released in september.

la barbe org (in french)

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