A French feminist group went around Paris changing street names to celebrate women.
Activists from Osez le Féminisme! (which means ‘dare to be feminist’) decided to cover up the street signs after learning that only 2.6 per cent of roads in Paris are named after women.
They chose the area near Notre Dame, or ‘Our Lady’ as it was already quite feminine and stuck up their own versions of the iconic blue plaques over official signs.
For instance the Quai de la Tournelle became the Quai de Nina Simone – the American singer who lived her final years in Paris.
Famous French feminist Simone de Beauvoir was also given a street, as were less well-known women such as Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, a musician who played at the male-dominated royal court in the 17th century.
The group’s spokeswoman Marie Allibert said they’d love to see half of Parisian streets bearing women’s names – or at least putting women’s names on the end of major sites to give women more prominence.
New Paris Street Signs To Celebrate Women
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