independent womanz

I love France. I've been a Francophile since the age of 8, when I found a French textbook buried in the piles of dusty old school supplies in the back of Mrs. Bonar's third grade classroom. I took it home and spent the rest of the year copying down phrases like, "Je m'appelle Dominique" (my chosen French name) et "Tu t'appelles comment?" 14 years later, here I am. And I love the country and the culture a thousand times more, but I also have the capacity to get soooo annoyed with it all.

My host mother told me a French joke about god looking at the earth after it was created, and he noticed that France was the most beautiful of all the countries in the world — mountains, lakes, beaches, oceans, plains, forests — every part of the landscape was diverse and breathtaking. And so, to make it even for the rest of the world, he created the French.

I laughed a little too hard.

In sort of a touchy mood...the wannabe-French director of the AUCP program shat all over me today, telling me that any issues I had with my host family were my own fault for having, "une certaine rigidité où il devrait être du douceur," or a certain rigidity where there should be sweetness. I'm sick of getting shit for being a strong and independent woman.

That sounds like such a cliché/a line from a Beyoncé song, but it's true. Independence and willpower, especially in women, is not valued in French culture. I'd go so far as to say that it's very much looked down upon. When my friend Kiely and I swear like sailors in front of some of our French guy friends, they shush us and say, "No, girls can't say that!"

To this I say, va te faire enculer!

I am all about traveling and discovering different cultures. But if it means that I have to change important aspects of myself in order to fit in — I work out, I don't smoke clope sur clope, I'm not a manipulative bitch, I wear shorts, I don't talk over people — then I'd prefer to retain that certain rigidity in lieu of gaining sweetness any day.

I promise a lighthearted post next time! Something about hot chocolate, methinks...