The French Woman is a Femme-enfant

There is the femme fatale.

There is the trophy-wife.

There is the bimbo.

There is the lolita.

And there is the femme-enfant. 

Not long ago, as I was having a conversation on women with male friends, one of them cut short and suddenly told me “you know what, very simply, our type of girls is the femme-enfant one”.

It’s funny coz we all understood what this friend meant by “femme-enfant” so I was wondering if it’s because we were all French. An English translation for “femme-enfant” would be “child-woman”. I asked German friends if there was such a word that could translate “femme-enfant” in German. Funny thing, they actually have “men-children” in Germany! But no femme-enfants. Then I asked a Belgian friend who speaks fluently French and Flemish. Interestingly, the word femme-enfant does not translate into Flemish, which led me to the conclusion that maybe, this concept is proper to the French language and maybe to the French culture.

So let me explain what a femme-enfant is, and if there actually is such a thing as femme-enfants in your language and culture, or any other types of complex gender-related stereotypes, please share!

1. A stereotype of a French woman: the “femme-enfant”

A femme-enfant is a type of women.
It’s a stereotype.

MUSIC: STROMAE, why his French songs will blow your mind

Close your eyes and picture the bitcoin value curve. It’s amazing, right? It’s pretty insane! Now keep your eyes close and replace bitcoins by Stromae, and $ by popularity. That’s how big this guy is getting.

Note: there is always news about Stromae coming out (his clothing brand, new songs and stuff). if you wanna be aware of them, the newsfeed is Crème French’s facebook page!

1. And how ubiquitous.

His name, Paul van Haver, Belgian singer, alias Stromae. He became famous in 2010 with “Alors on Danse”, “a mournful anthem that evokes unemployment, divorce, debt, the financial crisis” (NY Times) :

“You say studies/ I say job/ You say money/ I say spend/ You say credit/ I say debt/ You say love/ I say brats/ You say always/ I say divorce/ So we dance/ Then you think the crisis is over/ If it got worse we’d be dead/ But it’s not finished so you shout even louder/ And so we dance.”

DECIPHERING FRENCH FOOD CUSTOMS IN 8 POINTS

French cuisine is praised all over the world for its refinement. But there is more to French food than just food. Food belongs to a culture like a language does, it expresses a vision of the world, values, rules, in a word: codes. Wanna know what is hidden behind French food? Decipher French food in 8 points.

1. You can read French history in its food…
2. There is a French eating model
3. The French think their eating model is the best
4. French food practices are strict
5. “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are”
6. Food is an education
7. Meals are ultimate sociable moments
8. For the French, food is above all pleasure

Let’s get started!

HOW LIFE CAN SUCK, THE FUNNIEST STORIES

For a few years now, the website Vie de Merde (VDM “shitty life”), or F my life in English, has been a phenomenon in France. Every young person knows it and its concept: people post little funny episodes of their lives that sucked. Everyone can share and the others can show their support by clicking “I agree, your life sucks”, or “you deserved it”.

“Today, alcohol-fueled party in a loft with many people. My wife, drunk, grabs me in the toilets and we wildly have sex. Later during the party, she notices me and flies into my arms: “Oh chéri, at last you arrived!”. Self cuckoldification. FML”
“Today, at night, my girlfriend whispers “Are you sleeping?”. I don’t answer to see her reaction. She then releases a fart as loud as evil-smelling. She shook the blanket, giggled and fell asleep. FML”

LOVE AND FOOD: MARRY A FRENCH MEN, MARRY HIS FOOD

God knows being a multicultural couple is not easy. In her article entitled “Mastering French Cuisine, Espousing French Identity, The Transformation Narratives of American Wives of Frenchmen“, anthropologist Christy Shield-Argelès investigates on the role of food in the relationships of two French-American couples.

In this article, Beth and Linda, married to French dudes, evoke the American and the French mentalities regarding food and how they adapted to the French culture – or not. Click the link!

THE FORGOTTEN FLAT OF A PARISIAN DEMIMONDAINE

In June 2010 was discovered a pure testimony of the Paris of the early 20th century : the door of a Parisian flat of the 9th arrondissement was unlocked for the first time in 70 years.

Covered in dust, old carpets and tableware, antics were found, and among the art pieces, an original painting by Giovani Boldini (1842-1931), portraitist quite in vogue in Paris at the time.

The painting represents Marthe de Florian aged 24 in 1898, actress and demimondaine, obviously beautiful and more obviously very popular among our male friends judging by the amount of love letter she kept and classified (according to which order, the story doesn´t say). Many business cards of politiciens of the time were found, like that of Clemenceau, Waldeck-Rousseau, Doumergue oder Deschanel – no comment. The owner of the appartment, who died at the age of 91, was the grand daugter of this lady. She had moved to Southern France before WW2 and never came back.

YVES SAINT LAURENT: QUOTES ABOUT WOMEN, LOVE AND FASHION

I found a book about Yves Saint Lauren in my cousin’s library a while ago and took pictures of some pages I thought were particularly valuable. Unfortunately I don’t recall which book it was, i’ll tell you when I find it again.

Thanks a lot Melia for helping me translate these quotes!!

“Nothing is more beautiful than a naked body.

The most beautiful garment that can dress a woman are the arms of the man she loves.

But for the ones who have not been lucky enough to discover this happiness, I am here.”

BOOK: Lettre à D. Story of a Love – a book that’ll make you cry

To read Lettre à D., you will only need one hour, but you can plan a 15 min break during which you’ll be busy trying to find a tissue, blowing your nose, getting rid of those tears and calming down.

Letter to D. is a love letter, a letter written by André Gorz, French journalist/thinker disciple of Sartre (originally named Gerhart Hirsch, Austrian Jew), to Dorine, his wife. He expresses his love, his gratitude, his surprise at the idea of having found her, having lived with her, object of her good care, her devotion, delighted by her tact, her witt and her intelligence.

France in Japan: PAUL JACOULET, A FRENCH ARTIST IN ASIA IN THE EARLY 20th CENTURY

Last spring, an exhibition about Paul Jacoulet’s art took place at the Quai Branly Museum of indigenous culture and arts of Asia, Oceania, Africa and America. Listen, Paul Jacoulet’s art, although not very famous, is astonishing. The brightness of the colors and their combinations are so great that I was mesmerized! His art is so vibrand and modern!

He also had a one of a kind life: born in 1896, his family moves to Tokyo where his dad is a French teacher when he is 3. So basically, the guy is a Japanese at heart, he was brought up there, learning Japanese from an early age along with French and English, and at the age of 13 was taught art by renown Japanese painters, thus learning Japanese wood engraving, ukiyo-e. At 25 his dad dies and his mom remaries with a Japanese who lives in Seoul. In his thirties Paul Jacoulet decides to devote his life to painting, settles in Japan, and travels in Micronesia (region composed by the numerous islands of the Pacific Ocean, more HERE).

When I think of the situation of this family, I am fascinated.

THE FRENCH PRESIDENTS, THESE LADYKILLERS

{picture coming from a tumblr about Chirac}
{kiss montage btw Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy is from a Benetton campaign}

I remember in the US having been asked several times whether it was true that the French just take for granted that their presidents have love affairs. It is true, we just assume very naturally that they do… Politicians in general have been making such a reputation of ladykillers for themselves (or attempted ones, see below), that the contrary would actually be suspiscious.

Felix Faure dies in conditions many men would envy, Giscard tries to seduce Lady Di, Mitterrand has a secret daughter, and Chirac (the best for the dessert) tries to seduce everyone (proof with video).