Aspiring to Perfection: The American and French Ways

As we start to focus our readings onto a specific type of person, that is, the parisienne, it is interesting to go back and look at how the parisienne carries herself in a powerful way, how she is unapologetic, yet still courteous, and how she manages to maintain her personality with a professional image.

I find it interesting, within this context, to compare American and French women again. It seems as though our respective societies raise us to be one way or another. That is, I feel I grew up in a way that made me apologetic and self-conscious despite being loud and appearing confident, and I had to figure out how to be genuinely confident for myself. While it would be an oversimplification to ignore the inevitable insecurity of any girl growing up, it seems as though French society does not meld young women in the same way. They carry themselves differently, they value different things, they dress differently, etc. I think before I came into this class I knew that I wanted to be more like them in that way, without knowing that I was describing this mythical, unattainable parisienne. My mom and I discussed battling between wearing comfortable shoes to walk all day and wearing cute shoes to feel like we looked good and fit in (It's still a battle we discuss each time we're together). But, I saw in France, that even though these girls (my counterparts) don't look like cover girls on magazines, even though they are not flawless, they all seemed to be more comfortable in their own skin. This might have been my own self-consciousness at the time, especially with my American style that did not fit in. But, they were all dressed simply, practically, but with classic style, and in a way that they could be comfortable and carry themselves with dignity and confidence.

I found the article and videos of Inès de la Fressange especially interesting because they touched on this aspiration for the "perfect" that I've seen a lot in the insecurities of my peers growing up. But, it is not solely a superficial thing. In aspiring to the parisienne, women are not only aspiring to look a certain way but also to feel a certain way, to feel confidence and dignity and pride.