Les petites filles [English translation]

Well-behaved little girls

learned to be unobtrusive.

Smiling, polite, well-groomed,

knees neatly together on the couch.

Their little hands are very nimble,

thin as thread and needle.

Their rooms are Japanese gardens.

They frighten easily, they cry for nothing.

A rosy lace-wrapped life

in the blue shadow of mothers

In your cotton box,

well sheltered from emotions,

your anger is a mere tantrum

and your violence but a trick.

And if you don't tidy up everything

you're but a tomboy!

Flowers and dolls make them happy,

they blush at the slightest glance.

Just like the princesses in their novels,

they dream in secret of a Prince Charming.

They picture themselves as actresses, stewardesses.

They'll end up being midwives or secretaries.

They already have maternal instinct,

they lay the table and do the dishes.

A rosy apron-dressed life

in the blue shadow of the sink.

In your soap box,

well sheltered from temptations,

you're being offered cheap dreams,

like so many fancy outfits.

If you find them too skimpy,

you're but a tomboy!

But little boys are more clever.

The world is theirs anyway.

They like running around

and come home with scabs on their knees.

They think girls are a bit silly

and make fun of them as they walk by.

They pick up fights and curse.

Like their heroes, they never cry.

Wearing pink or blue, you little kids

who twenty years from now

will turn into well tamed

and brought up men and women,

will you play these parts

you were taught

between fear and contempt,

for better and for worse?

A rosy worry-tainted life

in the blue shadow of loans

in your concrete boxes

well sheltered from revolutions

• Artist:Michèle Bernard