It's fun trying to read French

Being completely honest, I did not know anything about the Frenchwoman before this class. Though all four are romance languages, Italian and Portuguese have always seemed more accessible to me than French because they are more similar to Spanish. That being said, I have never had any interest in the French language or culture. Thus, it has been very interesting to read about French food and style with a completely fresh perspective.

The whole idea of being “Parisienne” seems strange to me. I realize there is an idealized way in which Parisian women are seen and are sometimes expected to be, but I can’t say I necessarily see the appeal. Ines de la Fressange explaining how to dress like a “Parisienne” seems superficial. I believe women should dress in what makes them comfortable and what they feel they look good in rather that what society makes them believe is what they should be wearing. Also, speaking of being and dressing like a “Parisienne” makes it seem as if there is only one way to be from Paris when in reality the way you dress doesn’t necessarily embody where you are from.

In this same way that the Parisian woman is thought to be one that dresses in a certain way, the Frenchwoman is often thought to have a certain character and way about her. In “On Rue Tatin,” the narrator explains how she had perceived a woman to be a certain way. On their second meeting, the narrator explains, “She told me right away that she couldn’t believe I had wanted to return after she’d been so rude…It was several years before I admitted that I had thought it was perfectly normal.” The narrator “had always heard the French were cold and somewhat austere.” She generalized what a whole population would be like and it turned out in the end not to be true. So I think though there may be a general trend, there is no one way to be Parisian and no one way to be French.