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Beauty Rituals: U.S. vs. France
Paris helps one woman lose her inhibitions
by Rory Satran
French girls will smoke a cigarette at a party, sit in the sun for an afternoon without SPF 50, or dance until 4 a.m. drinking champagne with girlfriends on a work night—and not castigate themselves the next morning. There’s something joyful and sexy in their blithe disregard for the rules, a quality that seems to be innately French.
Case in point: Monsieur X once surprised me after class and took me to the beach. There, rather than a romantic afternoon, we experienced our first fight—because I couldn’t let go and enjoy myself. I didn’t have sunscreen, I had a paper to write, my clothes were all wrong, I needed my hair thingy. Later, I saw myself from his annoyed perspective: a needy, insecure control-freak. Have I since become a carefree goddess who frolics topless on the beach? Uh, not exactly. But I have relaxed my inhibitions, whether it’s “forgetting” to take my makeup off one night or drinking wine with lunch.
When Marjane of Persepolis travels to Europe, she becomes completely Westernized, even uncovering her hair in public. Yet the further she gets from her strict upbringing, the more she mythologizes the beauty rituals of her past. Similarly, as France teaches me to unlearn the rulebook of my adolescence, certain memories become more seductive. I remember childhood summers by the ocean, and the simple motions that separated me from the boys: scrubbing my feet with sand, smoothing my legs with baby powder, rubbing lipstick into my cheeks, and brushing my hair one hundred strokes each night before bed.
Some of these nostalgic notions—my first baby steps toward womanhood—I’ll keep to remember the girl I was. Other times, I wear my red garters, even by day, to celebrate the woman I’ve become.
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1 Rose // Mar 11, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I understand your point, however there is nothing neurotic about taking a shower once a day or wearing sunscreen.
It takes only about 15 minutes to take a bath, and 2 minutes to apply lotin/sunscreen…
Hopefully us americans can appreciate a more natural beauty, but we can do this without skrimping on the sunscreen or daily showers….
2 cris // Feb 28, 2008 at 7:47 am
I don’t get the “Valley of the Dolls” reference; the book/movie was about addiction to prescription drugs (specifically the barbiturate Seconal “Dolls”) among bored housewives and the lives ruined by such abuse.
I’m happy that I am an older woman who thinks this new obsession with shaving “there” is absurd. Shaved genitalia looks very unappealing and immature. (Ref: Britney, Lindsey, and Paris’ crotch shots. ugh). I’m sure the author’s lover was excited by the sight of her hair peeking out between the red garter straps.
3 rini // Dec 28, 2007 at 7:34 pm
I cannot become French. I have seen the difference between sun exposed skin and protected skin. Believe me, it is not beautiful to have deep wrinkles and spots on your skin at 35. Also, smoking? Yech.
I don’t blow dry my hair or wear a lot of makeup. I do shower daily…at least, though and shave my legs, underarms and you know where.
Oh well.
4 Jonny Hairdont // Dec 28, 2007 at 1:53 pm
I’ve been saying this for YEARS. Americans in general and American women specifically are too uptight. Everyone should try to spend a semester overseas, France if possible. It helps give perspective to new things AND appreciate how great the America is.
5 Ray Cougar // Dec 28, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Whoa. The French are making progress to even think about waxing. When I was taking social studies I was led to believe that shaving was a stretch for french broads.
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