French kids know how to play
In books and news articles, France often plays the foil to America, just as it once did to England. The French language serves as a sign of socio-economic distinction, a class marker, and for its disciples, it is probably easy to think that French ways are superior in everything from cooking to flirtation to parenthood.<p>Americans moving to France in search of a more sophisticated lifestyle are confronted with a stagnating economy, a society riven by inequality and racism, and a cuisine in many ways inferior to that of the US, Germany or other countries embracing fresh and organic good.<p>After an initial lost period, these American immigrants make careers out of France itself, trading off its pre-war reputation. &quot;French women don&#x27;t get fat&quot;, &quot;Why French Parents Are Superior&quot;, &quot;Bringing Up Bebe&quot; and &quot;La Seduction: How the French Play the Game of Life&quot; -- these are all real works published by people monetizing their lifestyle choices by preaching French superiority to those they have left behind.<p>Unfortunately, none of it is true. I spent 14 years in Paris, enough time to gauge the average weight of French womanhood and watch many French parents strut their stuff. France is becoming heavier and heavier as fast foods make deeper inroads. And French parenting is often a hystrionic affair that verges on verbal abuse when applied to toddlers. It&#x27;s shocking, actually.<p>So these articles simply use France as a rhetorical trope to introduce new ideas to American society. Those ideas should be considered independently of the distortions applied to France itself. In fact, someone should build an app that substitutes the word &quot;Utopia&quot; for France in those articles. It will clear the mind and steer the reader clear of the many impasses in which French society is stuck.