Consequences of Feminism 

In Alice Guy-Blaché’s gender-flipping 1906 comedy, Les Résultats du féminisme (The Consequences of Feminism), men are relegated to raising kids, ironing and sewing while women smoke, drink and prey upon the ‘weaker sex’ with lurid advances. While Guy-Blaché doesn’t literally put men in women’s shoes, she playfully exposes what life is like for women in the early 20th century and proves that cinema has been critiquing traditional gender roles since its inception. By the end of the seven-minute satire, the men overthrow the ‘evil’ matriarchy.

Though Guy-Blaché swaps society’s power structure for comedic effect, she was also responding to the growing public discourse around women’s rights during the first wave feminism. The gender-inverted rebellion embodies a persistent fear about feminism – that it’s not about equality, but about waging war on men. By suggesting that men wouldn’t tolerate being treated this way, Guy-Blaché asks why they expect women to.