Napoleon busts were all the rage, at one time. Arthur Conan-Doyle penned a Sherlock Holmes story titled "The Six Napoleons." In it, a seemingly crazed young Italian breaks into people's homes and smashes their plaster Napoleon busts on the floor. In the Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Tandem Target," a would-be assassin mistakenly shoots a Napoleon bust, instead of his intended human target.
People have had it in for Napoleon for years, France's version of ruthless world-conqueror. For this article, the editors at Die Zeit have decorated Napoleon in drag, for what purpose, I can only guess. The article states that women in France have become tired of everyone lauding male heroes and not giving women heroes any credibility.
The title "Cherchez la Femme" is an old French expression. If the husband asks, "Why are there no funds in my checking account?" You automatically reply, "Look for the wife!" The wife has already spent the money.
The tarted-up Napoleon bust irritates me. Most of the steam behind promoting heroic women in France comes from the feminists; but I can't tell if they want to promote heroines or emasculate the males. The bust provides at best a visual digression. Why not use a portrait of Marie Curie instead, or La Pasionaria, the heroine of the Spanish Civil War?
The curious title and the even curiouser photograph make the article muddled and unfocused from the start.
