About the sassy Bailes del Internado (Internship Balls) in Paris

he story of these balls began on September 13, 1802 when Napoleon created the Internship in the hospitals of Paris.

Only in the fourth year, the French students of medicine (then women students were not admitted) became interns, after passing a written exam and later an oral one, which they had to sit for in summer yearly. After the written exam and, before going to the oral examination, Le Bal de L'Internat was held.

They were celebrated at the Bal Bullier for a whole century and it was traditional that each hospital organized its parade, including sassy shows, in which the sexual aspect underlying the party, the pleasure and what was permissible or what was forbidden, can be clearly seen on the posters and the invitations sent.

Life at the boarding school of medicine consisted in the training of the interns and the practice of ludic activities, among which the internship ball was the main one. Every year, the students of medicine themselves or their friends artists, wrote two kinds of invitations: for women and for men, with different iconic texts and messages. If we pay attention to them we will see to what extent women were regarded as sexual objects.



The students themselves contributed to the preparations, in which, very especially, «the girlfriends» helped, who did not hesitate to lend a «shoulder» for the needs of the celebration, in which party and champagne were always present.