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French attitude toward infidelity, and gossip

posted 8 years ago by shesamazingnyc
8 replies | jump to latest

Being a puritanical American with a bourgeois attitude toward sex (/S), I don't see why Juliette's kiss in the street with Noah so scandalous. I thought the French had a more pragmatic attitude toward infidelity. She is married to an old man who has been absent from the scene for years. Maybe kissing him on the street violates the code of keeping it discreet?

Or is there a double standard in France as well? (Men may have mistresses, but women can't?)

And Sabine complained that Juliette's affair was a topic of gossip all over the university, but was it?

[–] Cotton-mouth 8 years ago

This was her own guilt and shame talking...perceptions as we've learned are colored, sometimes outright obscuring reality even, by strong emotions.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] homerj2us 8 years ago

Stereotypes aren't always accurate, especially if it gives people the opportunity to gossip. It seems people only find her valuable attached to her husband and his work.

Wouldn't be surprised if women's affairs would judged differently too.

[–] vmackey777 8 years ago

I am french. Believe me, we have the same POV about infidelity than anywhere else in the world. That all "French libertine tradition" is just a cliché that was invented by fantasist artists and rooted from 18th practices. We have a huge rate of divorces here too like in the US, the main reason being infidelity like in the US.

[–] catbookss 8 years ago

Is it more acceptable for a French man to have a mistress than it is for a woman to have an affair? Used to be that way, but perhaps (hopefully) things have changed.

Interesting that the divorce rate is as high there as it is here, with infidelity being the main reason.

[–] vmackey777 8 years ago

No it's not. Just look at the backlash our president got here when he cheated on his girlfriend.

[–] catbookss 8 years ago

I knew nothing about Hollande and his girlfriend until now. Don't think this is merely because I'm an Américain, it's because I pay virtually no attention to any politics, including my own country's, because I find it too depressing.

Thanks for answering my question.

[–] fede_4488 8 years ago

Racist stereotype.