As an admitted Francophile (although my blind admiration has greatly diminished) I am constantly assessing my world through the lens of a very limited binary of France vs. the U.S. Normally I would tell myself that it's unrealistic and unfair to pit these two dynamic countries and cultures against each other because there is always more than meets the eye- culture is merely a symptom of a country's complex history, language, wars fought and won, geography, etc. But, this is the Internet and what's more fun than an easy-to-read list, even if it's overly simplistic!
So, let's take some inspiration from shoe magician Christian Louboutin's interview in the March issue of Marie Claire, where he said he "prefer[s] the useless to the useful, the sophisticated to the natural." Here is the short list comparing America's proclivity for utility versus France's love for, well, the opposite of that:
- Sneakers vs. stilettos (an easy one...just a warm-up!)
- Supermarkets vs. incredibly specific local food purveyors (e.g. the local sausage maker- okay, Brooklyn does have those, and France does have supermarkets, but still...)
- Monogamy vs. mistresses/open relationships/relationship gray areas (our puritanical blood couldn't handle that on a widespread cultural level!)
- TV political pundits vs. rock star philosophers
- Food quantity vs. food quality
- Zero days statutory paid vacation vs. 5 weeks (2 weeks is common in the U.S., but according to this list, the U.S. minimum is actually 0 days!)
- Mom jeans vs. mom in skinny jeans
- Pullman loaves and chocolate chip cookies vs. croissants et macarons
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