Yet at the same time Rosa Bonheur is forced to admit: «My trousers have been my great protectors... Many times I have congratulated myself for having dared to
break with traditions which would have forced me to abstain from certain kinds of work, due to the obligation to drag my skirts everywhere...» Yet the famous artist again feels obliged to qualify her honest admission
with an ill - assumed «femininity»: «Despite my metamorphoses of costume, there is not a daughter of Eve who appreciates the niceties more than I do; my brusque and even slightly unsociable nature has never prevented my heart from remaining
completely feminine.»