Feminist heritage professional, storyteller, host and director Valérie Deschamps recently launched the podcast Team Madame which aims to highlight little-known women in our history.
The first episodes of the podcast focus on Marie Sirois, the strongest woman in the world at the time, the contribution of Germaine Lettre Lachance in the creation of poutine, as well as the pioneers of women’s hockey at the beginning of the 20th century.
“We all know the strongest man in the world, but few people know that he refused to allow a woman to attempt, on stage, to achieve the same feats as him, that this woman is a Quebecer from name of Marie Sirois and that she is buried in the Roxton Pond cemetery”, illustrates Valérie Deschamps.
“In the episode on the pioneers of women’s hockey, I also talk about hockey players from Trois-Rivières, who formed the best team when they arrived. They were told to stay home and have babies, but they chose to put on skates and play hockey. They broke the dictates of a society. These women were strong, but we do not find them in our heritage or our toponymy,” she laments.
The podcast is the logical continuation of Facebook publications, radio columns and the storytelling show aimed at sharing the stories of extraordinary, little-known women.
Valérie Deschamps was already interested in women in history during her university studies in history. “Initially, I wanted to do my master’s thesis on Pauline Julien. It was a period when we talked more about Gérald Godin than about her, says the long-time feminist. Through my baccalaureate, I realized that there were not many women who were put forward. I quickly realized that I wanted to highlight women in the projects I work on, but often, they don’t have names in the history books. It was the wife of or she bore her husband’s name. »
“Throughout my career, I have seen that women are present but rarely told. I noticed that deep down, in front of every great woman, there is a man who overshadows her. »
Moreover, no man’s name is mentioned in the episodes of the podcast.
There is no shortage of notable women in the region for the rest of the podcast. Valérie Deschamps has accumulated a bank of nearly 200 names.
The ballad Team Madame is available on Spotify, Apple Podcast and YouTube Music. Valérie Deschamps wants to produce a new episode every month.
