La dona barbuda visitarà els instituts!

Després d'uns mesos investigant sobre la dona barbuda i experimentant amb vàries accions performàtiques què suposa l'alteració del cos de la dona en aquesta línia, decidim introduir-la com a personatge Intrús als instituts on desenvoluparem el projecte Zona Intrusa 5, que impulsa l'Institut Municipal d'Acció Cultural de Mataró i que enguany comissariem Les Salonnières.

La setmana vinent començaran les accions/alteracions als instituts.
Esperem que la dona barbuda accepti la nostra invitació a escriure en aquest blog i ens expliqui les experiències i dinàmiques creades als instituts!Trobareu també més informació sobre el projecte a:
http://zonaintrusa5.blogspot.com

French feminism is back – with beards

Here we post a new appeared in the Guardian on Wednesday 29 June 2011. Check it out! It's really interesting.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/29/la-barbe-feminism-france

French feminism is back – with beards-

Spurred on by the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case, our collective is taking direct action to challenge sexism in French society

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. Women of all ages gathered, overcoming the differences that often opposed generations in the French feminist movement. The scale of the rally was a reflection not only of how big the DSK scandal was but of the force with which French feminism has, over the past few years, risen from the ashes.  

La Barbe's take on the French stamp 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. With 74 actions under its belt since its inception in March 2008, and with offspring organisations in Nantes, Toulouse, Niort and even Mexico (where they're called Las Bigotonas – The Great Moustaches) La Barbe's MO is to gatecrash high-level political, economic and cultural events every two weeks. 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.

On National French Heritage Day, when millions of French spill into the streets to visit monuments and sites of national pride, six women wearing fake beards quietly took the podium at the centre of the senate's chamber, surrounded by busts of the great men of French history. Beneath the gold-leafed dome, one of them read aloud from a text eulogising France's founding fathers, ending with a rousing, "Long live the France of our fathers, long live La Barbe!" before they were dragged away by senate police. Confused by the activists' gender, the policemen then stumbled over both male and female pronouns. Creating confusion is an art at La Barbe.

Media-savvy from the start, La Barbe has thus cajoled the media into reporting on male supremacy. The bearded activists have also been known to directly target the same media whose attention they solicit: le Nouvel Observateur, Liberation, RTL and RMC Radio, Radio France, Europe 1, Telerama, France 2 and Telefoot 1 have all been victims of a La Barbe action.

In 2009, La Barbe erupted on the set of Ce soir ou jamais, a popular talkshow on France 3, a public television channel. Six male philosophers were invited to dissect the true meaning of happiness. A dozen members of La Barbe sneaked onto the set and encircled the panel while two of them took turns reading from an 1863 poem by Eugene Fromentin: "Happiness is composed of three things on earth which are: sunshine, a woman, and a horse!" They were forcibly ejected by a stunned host, but the message was widely heard: better to have whiskers if you want to be invited.

Over the past month, La Barbe's actions included crashing Carrefour's annual board of trustees meeting for the second time, and invading a high-level summit on fishing policy with a slogan that said "Men and men first".

In May, La Barbe teamed up with more mainstream groups such as Osez le Feminisme (Dare Feminism) to demonstrate and circulate a petition entitled "ils se lachent, elles trinquent" (men let loose, women pay) that brought thousands of women of all ages into the streets. The defence of DSK by the French establishment was heard by feminists as an expression of white male power in French society.

Bigotes - by Inés García

Lo primero es que quise ponerme un bigote como el suyo (el de mi amigo), del tipo "poeta romántico"...Una vez puesto, más que un poeta parecía el sargento García, eso sí un sargento muy guapo. La verdad es que no parecía un hombre, seguía siendo una mujer. Durante la inauguración un chico miraba y no podía parar de reír.

Más tarde fuimos a un bar, en el que todo transcurrió con normalidad... hasta que me empecé a dar cuenta de que mi amigo no me había besado en todo el rato. Podía ser por vergüenza mía o extrañeza de él. Esa noche dormimos juntos, pero los besos no abundaban. A la mañana siguiente cuando me levanté y aún tenía el bigote le dije que no me había besado apenas y él me contestó claro que te he besado! en la espalda!!!

Así que ante el panorama que se me presentaba, decidí quitarme el bigote.

Bueno pues este es mi relato, un beso muy grande, fue una experiencia muy divertida, de hecho, les he comentado a mis amigas de salir un sábado con bigote y les ha encantado la idea. Así que si me recordáis dónde comprasteis el maquillaje de los ojos...

Otro beso y hasta pronto.

Miss Lincoln - by Georgina Espasa

At first, I must admit that I felt strange but being with you and other bearded women made me feel more protected.
I found very funny that a group of young boys -who were at the festival -could not stop laughing. It was as if it was a joke for them. There was especially one who was laughing so much that I decided to stop passing right next to him, just beacause I felt he was feeling ashamed everytime that he looked at me... but perhaps it was my imagination ... who knows...
Throughout the evening, I forgot about the beard (except when it it was itchy) because it was very integrated to me.
Interestingly, once I left the festival, on my way home, I was very embarrassed that people could see me. Although it was dark night I went back by bike through the less busy streets ... I felt a little ridiculous hiding myself.

Well, I think that neither society nor me are ready to integrate bearded women. At least, not without being incially in a state of shock, denial, shame or provocation.
However, I must say that I loved it. I even found it sexy and feminine ...
Thank you girls for the experience ... and also for the visit.Whenever you want we wait here in Berlin....

big kiss

My half of a day experience with a cute little mustache - by Sarah Jean-Louis

After/during a performance evening on monday night the salonieres changed my image of a woman into a slightly different image of a beard woman. Slightly because the mustache was a thin and quiet theatrical looking piece of my own hair glued to my upper-lip. Even so it was so obviously not real I felt slightly different while riding home on my bike through the streets of Berlin that night. Heroic and courageous, nervous and  insecure about what to come. Until I went top bed I wasn't sure about wether I would sleep with my new itching face hairs or I would simply rip it off that night. But the curiosity about the reaction of my boyfriend and my daughter made me go to bed with that tickling hairy thing on my lip.

Well, their first reaction was quiet different from what I expected. First they were very astonished and speechless about my 'new' image, then he shouted out: 'Igitt' in disgust. My daughter pretty much said the same: ' Mamy, that is ugly put it off.' I thought that at least she would be fond of my masquerade.

I could have stayed in bed while my boyfriend would bring her to kindergarden, but then I decided- I have to show my new face at least a tiny little bit in the public. All the way to the kindergarden I was excited and nervous, but more like challenging the world, than fearing something.

We were much too early, so we sat down in some turkish Café. Interestingly most of the older, turkish men smiled at me, most of the Germans just ignored my beard image. The other kids just asked about my mustache and after I told them that I want to try out how it feels like, they were satisfied. 

After that I sat in a cafè for a while drinking coffee with a friend, but nothing happened except some looks and that I got more and more used to it. Unfortunately I decided to go home instead of going to a big market, buying some fruits with my friend and experiencing the slowly growing transformation in my perception of myself and the reaction to my hairy face.

At home I just took some pictures before I took the mustache off- and immediately regretted that. Even though it was a only a small, theatrical looking mustache, wearing it for half a day broke my routine and my imagination of myself and my life. I don't really understand why, but that's the way it was. I felt like something new has to come or can come, especially something that alterates my family life which is way too traditional- more than I ever imagined it could be.

Muchas Gracias Salonnieres por esta experienca!!! I will do it again!

performing

What would 18th century Salonnières tell to us?

Beard Salonnières are getting ready for the performance! Yeahh!!!