In the 1960s, in the Éditions Nathan Encyclopédie de la femme (“Encyclopedia of Woman”), Monsarrat, a female doctor, was still describing girls’ education in these terms: It must be done in the most altruistic way. A woman’s role in life is to give everything to those around her—comfort, joy, beauty—while keeping a smile on her face, without making herself out to be a martyr, without ill humor, without visible fatigue. It’s a major task; we must lead every daughter toward this happy, lifelong renunciation. From her very first year, a girl must know how to share her toys and sweets
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