THE GREAT FRENCH MUSTACHE STRIKE OF 1907
REDISCOVER YOUR LIMITS
Workers usually go on strike to improve wages and working conditions. Leave it to the French to mount a historic strike for the right to grow a mustache.
A full mustache was a prestigious mark of men’s social class in Europe in the early 20th century. Policemen were required to grow them to project authority and masculinity. Waiters rebelled when restaurant owners forced servers to shave their faces clean as a sign of their lower-class social status. During the dinner hour on April 17, 1907, an estimated 500 servers stopped dishing food, took off their aprons, and walked out, clustering on the street as diners looked on. The waiters also demanded a share of diners’ tips and the right to take one day off a week. They had support in Parliament, where one socialist deputy proposed a bill to outlaw mustache bans (which also applied to domestic servants and priests). The deputy called the restaurants’ mustache rule “grotesque and humiliating.”
How to Set Boundaries and Stay True to Yourself “I need to spend time with my friends this weekend.” “Please give me some space.” “I will not tolerate name-calling.” Relationship boundaries are different for everyone. They are personal lines we draw to protect our emotional well-being and ensure respect with our partner. Though they can be challenging to express, they are one of the keys to a happy, healthy relationship and may indicate if a person is the right match for you. After a divorce, it may feel like your boundaries didn’t matter, or you may have trouble determining where you will draw the line moving forward. By staying in tune with your emotions, you can rediscover your boundaries and stick to them in your next romance. LISTEN TO YOUR FEELINGS Your emotional reactions to things are a key indicator of your boundaries. Feelings help us understand when people, interactions, or behaviors make us feel safe or uncomfortable. If you are feeling emotional discomfort or pain, it may mean you need to set a boundary. On the flip side, happy emotions are a sign we want more of a behavior or a person. One effective way to get more in touch with your emotions is to pause and check in with yourself during the day. IDENTIFY YOUR VALUES If you are having trouble identifying your boundaries, take some time to reevaluate what matters most to you and your most important values. When you know what you want, you can rearrange things to make it possible. Perhaps spending more time with your family is a goal, so you tell your partner you need to see family members once a month. Knowing your priorities can help you determine the boundaries you must set to achieve them. ASK FOR HELP You can ask for help on your boundaries by talking with a trusted friend or family member about their own. This insight could spark ideas for yourself or give you an outside perspective. A mental health professional like a therapist can work with you to help you discover what your boundaries are and give you deeper insight into what you want in a relationship.
After 16 days, restaurant owners caved to servers’ mustache demands and implemented a fairer pay structure. The waiters, however, lost their bid for one day off each week.
The French have long been famously quick to stage work stoppages. At 112 days on average, the country leads the industrialized West in days lost to strikes each year. The nation’s strike culture is linked to its history of revolt, including the 1789 French Revolution. Withholding one’s labor is a constitutional right in France, whether you are a union member or not. And the mustache had long been a mark of status in Europe. Centuries earlier, Germany only permitted soldiers who had distinguished themselves in battle to grow mustaches. In France, the military requirement to wear mustaches became so strict that soldiers who couldn’t grow one had to wear a fake mustache. No wonder the French waiters took their facial hair so seriously. Being required to shave relegated them to the domestic servant class. As one French newspaper of the time declared, the waiters’ victory secured the right “to finally show that they are men, free men … who can wear at their ease this symbol of the all-powerful male, the mustache. Oh! The beautiful independence!”
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