Sophia C. reviewed on + 289 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
This book is French Women Don't Get Fat for love and romance -- down to recipes for amorous meals. Descended from a French grandmother, Jamie Cat Callan and a friend interview French men and women (as well as some French-American expats) to delineate the feminine wiles des Francaises which she glimsped growing up.
While some of the advice is intuitive -- cultivate self-confidence, maintain your own group of friends and independence -- it does sound better under the wrappings of being French and therefore sexy. However, does wearing matching high-quality undergarments really bolster self-confidence? Callan goes a bit too far in distilling the French Woman into a stereotype that she claims American woman should emulate. She slips between describing some behaviors and attitudes as organic to French women versus such as their conscious manipulations to attract and keep men interested, leaving the question of whether the strategies work if consciously adopted in a goal-oriented manner to find love (which she claims American women mistakenly do.) Femninists might object to her claim that "being moody and frequently changing our minds is still and always be a female prerogative." The author overreaches when she makes claims without much evidence, for example, that the French are they way they are because of the influence of Descartes. Finally, it's unclear that works so well in France will meet with success when transplanted into a very different American culture. Putting these concerns aside, I think the core message of being your own confident, grounded, and somewhat mysterious person with an vibrant social life outside of your relationship can't hurt, whether it's more French or not.
While some of the advice is intuitive -- cultivate self-confidence, maintain your own group of friends and independence -- it does sound better under the wrappings of being French and therefore sexy. However, does wearing matching high-quality undergarments really bolster self-confidence? Callan goes a bit too far in distilling the French Woman into a stereotype that she claims American woman should emulate. She slips between describing some behaviors and attitudes as organic to French women versus such as their conscious manipulations to attract and keep men interested, leaving the question of whether the strategies work if consciously adopted in a goal-oriented manner to find love (which she claims American women mistakenly do.) Femninists might object to her claim that "being moody and frequently changing our minds is still and always be a female prerogative." The author overreaches when she makes claims without much evidence, for example, that the French are they way they are because of the influence of Descartes. Finally, it's unclear that works so well in France will meet with success when transplanted into a very different American culture. Putting these concerns aside, I think the core message of being your own confident, grounded, and somewhat mysterious person with an vibrant social life outside of your relationship can't hurt, whether it's more French or not.
