I don't know about you but I have a memory issue. People talk of a time "when women did not work..." Well my amnesia seems to get in the way of that statement, for when was that exactly? Who were these women?
Oh wait, I have a few of them in my family. Yep, these gals never lifted a finger...
Meet Marie Louise Lemaître, my great-grand mother. See the kid on her lap? Not hers. No sirreee. She had so much time on her hands. Minding 4 kids of her own was not enough for her, in her spare time she would sew up a storm, and also go off to Paris because dontcha know that wet nurses from the Morvan were the best evah!
But wait... See this lazy-bones on the left with the dark hair and the stark look her eyes, and the flower in her hair?
Who do you think she was fooling? A hippy I tell ya. Suzanne (my grand-mother) had so much leisure time that by age 5, with her little hands she was already embroidering handkerchiefs. They do say that you turn into your parents don't they? And yes Suzanne would partake in Marie-Louise sewing activities from a very early age. Child labour?... Never :-)
Then of course came Marie-Thérèse Houschmitt, the girl with the glasses.
Could she be working? Nah, she is just helping her friends with some prototype of a blog 50 odd years ago. My mom never worked, no she just left school at 16 and embarked on a number of wild adventures at various locations - townhalls, printers presses, pretending to teach people how to type, but she was really using the Lee Strasberg method of acting strategy to get her big role in Hollywood.
Then of course came me, the bundle under Marie-Thérèse's arm. I too had acting ambitions... I was auditioning for the part of the laundry bundle.
But I ended up with being a translator which - as we know- isnt really a job, I mean if it were a real job, I would make a decent living out of it, and besides how could I spend so much time blogging???? You tell me!
I don't think the next generation of women will work either by the way. See this ? Do you think Maïté Moloney (my daughter) has any intention of working ever? She says she wants to be a "psychologist". A whah????
11 comments:
Very funny.
Ton article est très drôle. Vive Marie-Thérèse et son blog des années 60
Bisous
Olivier
Merci :-)
i always love old pictures, but i also LOVE the picture of your daughter :) so lively!
i wanted to be a psychologist too ;)
as for work... I think women should do whatever they want... a lot of professions just aren't suited to the nature of women, maternity leave isn't always adequate and when women do come back to work they're often treated as if they've lost half a brain during the birth-giving process :(
i know two of these women... both my sister in laws don't work and it drives me crazy! i actually love to work but wish i was doing something that i loved! soon i hope!!
xo,
cb
Comment ça ta gamine veut être psycho? Ça va pas la tête? Elle ferait mieux de faire blogueuse influente, tiens!
I love the family history. I think women actually worked harder back in those days. Laundry was a major undertaking. And being someone's wet nurse? fuhgettaboutit!These women are our unsung heroes.
I dunno what happened really, my grand mother always said she thought modern women were "imprisoned", she who had worked as a domestic servant all her life! But yeah she kept every single receipt of every single thing she bought herself (never on credit), and she had the manners of a queen. She picked that up when cooking and cleaning for a local doctor.
Paulinette, she was born to be a psycho (logis), I really dont see what else she could do either, she spends her time cutting through people's bullshit, and she never fails to be right. Ata girl!
@Mademoiselle, sadly what you say is often true.
I'm so interested in old photographs, they always look with interest, it is amazing, very good post !!!))
Une future Jean-Luc P, ta fille.
Son avenir me semble alors prometteur.
D'ailleurs, si jamais mon Jean-Luc arrive pas à me trouver un rancard avec son divan rouge qu'il n'a pas encore acheté, je ferais bien fonctionner ta psycho. Par Skype, on peut s'arranger, non? Non?
Oh oui pourquoi pas, en plus comme elle a pas de diplôme, je suis sûre qu'elle pourra te faire un prix!
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