Perhaps unsurprisingly, buffoonery(滑稽) was one of few careers acceptable for women to pursue in the Middle Age. And it was not uncommon for women to enjoy this career.
However, in the 17th century, comedians were forced to society's edge as their tendency to truth-telling was no longer tolerated among high society and women, bearing the weight of gender prejudice, were seldom among this career.
This slowly began to change in the mid-19th century when women began to enter the workforce and, in the circus(马戏表演) industry, a growing minority of female performers were employed. They promoted the industry's "New Woman" movement which introduced female performers into the traditionally male stage.
In 1895, among the women breaking the prejudice was Josephine Williams or "Lady Evetta" called the "The Only Lady Clown(小丑)".
Williams told The New York Times: "I believe that a woman can do anything for a living that a man can do and do it just as well as a man. All my people laughed at me when I told them that I was going on stage as a clown. But they do not laugh now."
Despite her being optimistic, the article concluded: "The men in the clown business rather enjoy Miss Williams' odd performances but they do not regard her as a serious competitor or believe that any other women are likely to follow her example."
How wrong they were. In the 1970s, French-born Annie Fratellini opened the circus school Académie Fratellini encouraged by her film-making husband Pierre Etaix.
Fratellini's Auguste was recognizable as the clown familiar today. Her unique make-up was made up of a big red nose, tears, a black mouth and shiny decorations fixed to her eyes. When asked whether the character she acted was male or female, she insisted that "clowns have no gender".
