10 Things You Didn't Know You Needed To Know About French Women
An insider's look into the overanalyzed yet still deeply misunderstood French culture and its women.
“If there were no Frenchwomen, life wouldn’t be worth living.”
In true French anarchist fashion therefore in NO particular order:
The world likes to believe that all French women are impossibly fashionable and elegant at all times. While it is true for many, it is not true for all. But we won’t be the ones to contradict. We like too much for the world to believe just that and are titillated by our beautiful reflection in that very flattering mirror.
Our inner rebel makes us do infuriating things. Fine examples are smoking under a non-smoking sign (“I do what I want”), crossing the street when it’s most definitely not our turn (“it’s my life”), and cutting in line in front of an outraged crowd (“I really hate waiting”). We just don’t care. Not even a little bit.
We were raised on Nutella. A trip down memory lane involves a pot of the chocolaty spreadable goodness and a spoon. Nothing can or should stand between us and that pot.
French women CAN get fat. The ones that don't just categorically refuse to and know exactly what needs to be done to avoid the dreaded outcome.
We lead (maybe even created) the battle against the "too much”. Our weapon of choice: the “less is more”. But watch us burn down the house when faced with the “not enough”! It’s a tricky balance, really.
We’ll fusion all day long with other people’s cuisines, but please don’t try to denature traditional French food. That would be sacrilege.
There are a few words we're afraid to mutter. "NO” (“non") is not one of them.
We are able to debate and have opinions on absolutely everything, including things we've not well versed in. Our society and school system groomed us this way.
We can be dramatic and feel our emotions very deeply. You see, while you’re having a difficult day, we are actually "at the end of our life” (“au bout de notre vie”) or at the murky bottom of an obscure pit of despair (“au fond du gouffre”).
We value quality over quantity. Always have, always will. #qualityforlife
Photo by Yoann Boyer.