Strauss-Kahn, le vieil aigri.

Most of us have seen the photos.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former head of the International Monetary Fund, sits darkly before a judge with his hands across his chest – a shadow of indignation and humiliation looms across his face. A former Socialist party candidate for the 2012 elections in France, DSK is accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid and paid $1 million in bail this morning on the condition that he agrees to 24-hour home detention under armed guard (Bloomberg).

The uneasiness of Frenchmen and women living in the US is palpable.

“You should have been smarter old fool,” they all want to yell, “You’re in America! It wasn’t a Frenchmaid you accosted, Black immigrants actually have a voice here!”

Poor Strauss-Kahn, the dirty old bastard had it cumming.

La beauté

The December issue of Psychology Today pays their tribute to the Frenchwoman…

The issue encourages readers to ask questions about the truth behind beauty, forcing us to accept the “not-so-pretty” facts about our looks.

In her article Can You be Too Beautiful? Heidi Grant Halvorson makes reference to the French woman.

French women, too, buy into the idea that there’s some fountain of youth at the Clarins counter. But, perhaps because feminism never seeped into mainstream culture in France like it did here, they generally have a healthier and more realistic relationship with beauty, accepting it as the conduit to love, sex, relationships, and increased opportunities. They take pleasure in cultivating their appearance, and in accentuating their physical differences from men. They don’t give up on looking after their looks as they age, nor do they tart themselves up like sexy schoolgirls at 50. They simply take pride in their appearance and try to look like sensual, older women.

Halvorson writes that being beautiful is being sexually attractive to men. Having an hourglass figure, for instance, attracts men of all cultures. So, like the French woman, we need to develop a health relationship with our beauty and learn to embrace it. She writes…

Read lots of books, develop your mind and your character, exercise the rights the heroes of the women’s movement fought for us to have, and strive to become somebody who makes a difference in the world. And, pssst…while you’re doing all of that, don’t forget to wear lipgloss.

Ma recherche.

As promised, I’ve posted a snip-it of my research regarding Franco-American relationships.

I wrote a paper on the topic last month and I want to share with you my findings. Overall, research suggests that French people tend have to fewer partners than Americans during their lifetimes, maintain more long-term committed relationships, are more likely to be monogamous, and enjoy more frequent sex. One could argue that Americans place more emphasis on the noncommittal aspect of sex and often to do not enjoy sex as often as their French counterparts. Moreover, the Frenchwomen continue to enjoy fulfilling sex lives past their primes as French culture promotes vitality further into maturity.

• French women choose their sexual partner more slowly than women in the U.S.
• French women enter into sexual relationships at a later age.
• Later in life, French women continue to be more sexually active than American woman
• More French couples choose to live together without being married or live alone while being in a committed relationship
• Between relationships stages, French men and women take fewer noncommittal sexual partners.
• Both American women and men in the U.S. more likely to have a series of short relationships before settling down with a stable partner.
• In France, a sexual committed relationship involves a higher degree of commitment

• Though French men and women enjoy frequent sex, a more personal and committed emphasis is placed on one’s sexuality.

 

Veuillez me contacter si vous lisez plus de ma recherche.

Baisers des hommes dans le lit.

I’d like to take a moment to discuss a rule…

Kissing men in bed.

I used to think this was an innocent ordeal….

“I like you, there is a bed, no one is home, let’s just kiss each other.”

And in my opinion it should be this way. I DON’T SEE WHY NAUGHTY ENDEAVORS MUST ALWAYS LEAD TO SEX!

Sometimes things are left best in their simplicity. But some things aren’t that simple.

I mentioned the rule to a French friend of mine over coffee today and he quickly interrupted me:

“Agh! I would be extremely offended if a woman took me into her bedroom, kissed me, led me on, but then refused to have sex! THAT’S JUST PLAIN WRONG!”

Yes, yes, I know. Believe me, I learned this lesson the hard way.

If you don’t want make love to a grown man, don’t be cruel and fool around with him.

But I cannot help but wonder if this is the same rule for a boy.

Surely they are not as complicated.

Choc culturel.

We all come from our own worlds.

Whether we are an heiress living in London or a rapper selling your CDs on Crenshaw, we construct our lives based on how we see ourselves and the people around us. And as such, we gravitate toward those who validate our reality. Of course, most people don’t consciously realize this…

for there is no need when surrounded by people who are like you.

Over these past two years, I’ve been perplexed by the number of unstable relationships that just do not fit me. The French women I meet are either elusive and unapproachable or just a flat out bitchy. The French men usually never pursue anything beyond innocent flirtation or a one night stand. Perhaps I am just too tall and intimidating. I tell myself innocently. Or perhaps they just like drama.

And then you get the Lame-os: the dudes who so hopelessly just don’t make the cut. They usually are uneducated and/or have absolutely no money and/or no respectable aspirations and/or are too short. I don’t want a boyfriend who sells cars and never went to college, they make me want to yell. And yet those are the ones I get to choose from here.

Sure, I gave it a shot once or twice: the short guy, the penniless guy, the “uneducated car sales man” guy. I’m not a shallow girl who judges people simply on height and wealth, if he can make a girl laugh then he’s worth a shot. But each one left me unconvinced that we truly understood each other. We disagreed on very basic principals. Ultimately we came from different worlds.

But then I realized something.

I felt it with cute Frenchman too, as well as the sexy Spaniard, the hot Italian, etc etc etc. In fact, it applies to my entire life in Paris in general. This is not my world.

I’m done with this.

I’m going back to my roots and my people.

I’m headed for Atlanta.