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.

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