France has always celebrated the values of "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" as espoused by the leaders of the French Revolution...
France has always celebrated the values of "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" as espoused by the leaders of the French Revolution. It is not surprising that it was they who championed the rights of man. Unfortunately, it took some time for women to get that equal treatment and it was only in 1944 when they were allowed to vote for the very first time.
About 22 years earlier, French artist Albert Bergeret was commissioned to create a set of trading cards called "Les Femmes de l’Avenir" (Women of the Future). The theme was a "retrofuturistic attempt to expand the role of women in society" by showing us a "small and fashionable world" where "women were given a more equal role in society, not to mention spectacular hats."
Interestingly, the women were presented in a more masculine way so that they become equals among men. Who would have thought that in 100 years, woman have gained more power and influence but inequality is still prevalent in some other countries. We have come a long way yet so much things to do!
Although the trading cards were thought of as a masculine point of view of women's liberation that will happen in the future, some experts believe that the entire set was made "to capture men's fantasies rather than be part of any feminist movement." Nevertheless, Bergeret never mocked his subjects, nor oversexualized them in any way, shape or form. He did presented them, as each card indicates, as advanced futuristic beings who didn't yet exist in his time.
The photos are captioned with factoids about women's advances in French history. In some cases, Bergeret did not have to extrapolate far. Women could practice law in 1900; women served in the army during the French Revolution, but did not fight. Colleges had been open to women since 1879. A few women worked as doctors and journalists in Bergeret's time. In fact, Marie Curie had discovered polonium, coined the term "radioactivity" and would win the Nobel Prize in 1903. Queen Victoria had ruled over half the world. So much for girl power!
No one have envisioned the long struggle for women's equality as the French women have to wait for more years before they get to be represented in male-dominated professions. Although the pictures of these models were shot like what gravure or pinup models would do, Bergeret did it with poise, style, and dignity. Although we still imagine female generals, mayors, firewomen, and soldiers in some way, there is one particular card that really stands out. It portrays a self-satisfied, Bohemian model labeled “rapin”—which a reader below informs us is "an argot word for (bad) painter."
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