L’Amour

Ahh kittens…..so much to write about this week….between it being time to celebrate our deep love for our partners on Valentine’s Day and of course, the primaries out here in DC, MD and VA tomorrow. I can barely contain myself, so much excitement.

The thing is, I’ve got to start the week off talking about L’Amour, of course! I mean – when I stumble upon a piece discussing love and age in….France, my rightful homeland, far be it from me to pass that one over.

Indeed. In yesterday’s Post, there was a story on French women – apparently they don’t get fat and they still have a lot of sex as they age, as compared to American women.

C’est vrai. Here’s the link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/08/AR2008020801607.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

What I love about this piece is the following:

1. It’s about French women. I love France. I love Paris. I love all things French. I am a true Franchophile and my child is turning into one as well – she’s only two yet she already says she wants to “go see pretty pictures in woove” (that would be Louvre. My heart swells with pride).

2. It’s about French films respecting women of a certain age for being just that – and not trying to make them appear to be 20. Turns out women in their 50s are given roles for women in their 50s and aren’t airbrushed. I think this is one of the most important points of this piece – it shows a vast cultural distinction between the US and France. Let’s face it – female celebrities who are older than 50 in this country are revered when they don’t look their age. Don’t get me wrong, women like Glenn Close and Meryl Streep are two of my all-time favorites – but are they generally considered sexy? Or given roles that encourage them to play the role of the sexy seductress? A french actress approaching 60 is interviewed and she points out that French cinema is “faithful to its women.” What a refreshing thing to read.

3. Speaking of faithful – that would be the final thing covered in this piece – and another enormous difference between our two cultures. We all know by now that the French aren’t necessarily a faithful bunch in their marriages. Their whole view of marriage and fidelity is very different from ours. Though I’d hate to admit it, perhaps I am too American in this regard – but I just don’t know how you work through a marriage when you both are unfaithful. I don’t know how jealousy and anger and distrust don’t end up ripping it apart.  That said, the French are quite open about their marriages and affairs and it seems that older women in France are less discerning than older women in America – and are quite happy to take up an affair with married men, younger men, maybe not even the most attractive of man. Seems they enjoy having sex and they keep at it into their 70s.

So the question is this – in this week of love – should we just move to France? We can eat all the cheese and baguettes to our hearts content, walk all over Paris, receive a very generous maternity leave including cleaning ladies sent to our home by the French government, and then we will be considered very beautiful still into our twilight years as we have lots of sex.

See how I keep things simple here on KT? 

Vive  la France!