La Vie Féminine

La Vie Féminine (union littéraire, artistique et sociale) was a weekly feminist newspaper published during the First World War (from 1914 to 1919). Its director was Valentine Thomson (1881-1944), a writer and political journalist who pursued a career at the New York Times and Harper’s Magazine. She was a leading feminist, who started campaigning for women's right to vote in 1914 and took part in the Inter-Allied Women's Conference after the Great War.
In 1917, Michel Dufet designed several covers for the weekly paper. Most of them depicted women in jobs that were male-dominated in peacetime, such as chimney sweeps, sailors, mechanics and sewer workers. These illustrations are a reminder of the war effort made by women. The efficient lines and blocks of colour are an indication of Dufet’s taste for design. 
The articles also highlighted work done by women.  While the fashion columns were aimed at a fairly affluent readership, there were many photo shoots of nurses and female workers in factories and on farms. The same is true of the editorials, which were politically committed to women's right to higher education and the education of young girls. And cultural life featured strongly, despite the war. There were regular articles on theatre, fine arts and literature, as well as a page frequently devoted to a historical female figure such as Héloïse, Madame de Longueville or Madame Guizot.

Jason Vertray