"The Consequences of Feminism" is a fascinating early film satire. Made by the world's first female filmmaker, Alice Guy, it makes fun of feminism or, rather, fears of its results. Men and women switch traditional, stereotypical roles in this series of eight vignettes, with males performing household chores and caring for the children while the females chase the blushing pants-wearers and otherwise lounge about smoking and drinking. The blatant use of stage sets here for outdoor scenes, when Guy could very well, and did for other films, shoot outside seems to underscore the societal fiction and artificiality of the scenario. There's no crossdressing, either, although there's actually quite a bit of that in other films from Guy and Gaumont, including, for example, Guy herself in drag kissing her character's wife in "Midwife to the Upper Class" (1902).
Although Guy is rightly celebrated for being the first female director, writer, producer and, later, studio owner, as well as one of the first important filmmakers in general, she may not have been one's ideal feminist in 1906. Indeed, some historians have called her a conservative. Consequently, the resolution in this picture has men retaking their place in the patriarchal hierarchy, kicking women out of a café and, presumably, back to home and child care, while they celebrate. This finale may seem to rather take the bite out of Guy's satire and any supposed feminist agenda. On the other hand, who else but Guy would even have fun with feminism and gender, so consistently promote female subjects and perspectives in her films, as well as often focusing on children and beginning her career with fables on human reproduction. Moreover, Alison McMahan says (in her book, "Alice Guy Blaché: Lost Visionary of the Cinema"), "for the women in the audience in 1906 this film could also have been read as a call to revolution, if they actually identified with the put-upon men."
Unfortunately, Guy's Solax remake, tantalizingly titled "In the Year 2000" (1912), of this Gaumont production is now lost, although "The Consequences of Feminism" was also lost until only recently, so there's hope for a better future.
Although Guy is rightly celebrated for being the first female director, writer, producer and, later, studio owner, as well as one of the first important filmmakers in general, she may not have been one's ideal feminist in 1906. Indeed, some historians have called her a conservative. Consequently, the resolution in this picture has men retaking their place in the patriarchal hierarchy, kicking women out of a café and, presumably, back to home and child care, while they celebrate. This finale may seem to rather take the bite out of Guy's satire and any supposed feminist agenda. On the other hand, who else but Guy would even have fun with feminism and gender, so consistently promote female subjects and perspectives in her films, as well as often focusing on children and beginning her career with fables on human reproduction. Moreover, Alison McMahan says (in her book, "Alice Guy Blaché: Lost Visionary of the Cinema"), "for the women in the audience in 1906 this film could also have been read as a call to revolution, if they actually identified with the put-upon men."
Unfortunately, Guy's Solax remake, tantalizingly titled "In the Year 2000" (1912), of this Gaumont production is now lost, although "The Consequences of Feminism" was also lost until only recently, so there's hope for a better future.