This man loves his dog...and a prize poodle!

From the Salon de L'Agriculture

Photos!

Okay, so I've bitched out a bunch in my previous posts about things which have irked me about French culture. But let's get back to basics--here are some things I love about being here!

Food, dogs, babies, beautiful sunsets.

Ethnocentric exchanges

Parisians have a reputation as beginning rude, haughty, and self-centered with regards to tourists and foreigners. In fact, this stereotype is often extended to all of France, but most people will agree that it really only concerns the inhabitants of the City of Light. The majority of my experiences with Parisians have been fine. Certainly, they're by no means warm and welcoming (that qualification I reserve for the Dutch), but in general, I have not experienced much of an attitude problem. However, recently I had two fairly innocuous experiences with rude Parisians which also betrayed their ethnocentrism. I had a package to pick up at the post office yesterday (thanks, Mom!). When you pick something up, they always ask for ID. I handed over my Pennsylvania state ID, as it is, indeed, an identification card with my picture on it, that proves I am who I say I am. The woman at La Poste looked at me aghast and said, "What the hell is this? This is not an ID!!" I explained to her that yes, indeed it is an ID, an American ID. She refused to accept it and asked me for my passport. I gave it to her and got my package. This really does put me in a bind though. It means that I am forced to always carry my passport with me, something I am not entirely at ease doing since it is such a precious document. This episode speaks to general French ethnocentrism, as they only accept forms of identification that the French themselves would accept. In the US, no one would ever dream of carrying their passport around with them. That's precisely why we have ID's! They are just as valid. Simply because I am currently residing in France does not automatically invalidate my US ID. It still has my full name, photo, date of birth, and signature. But the French are very particular, and it is one more example of how when you come here, you must conform to their system, even if you are not a national.
The second incident occurred today. I went to my local fnac (like a best buy but so, so much better). I was interested in perhaps purchasing Intouchables, which has just come out on DVD. The film was the runaway hit of the year, and I missed it in theaters. Moreover, I was interested in the DVD because it would have subtitles, and as there is a lot of slang in the film, I had resisted seeing it out of fear of not comprehending everything. I was having trouble reading the back of the box to see if there were English subtitles included, so I went up to the cashier and asked her. She said, "it's a French film! Why in the world would this have subtitles? Do you always read every film you watch?" I explained to her that typically DVDs contain subtitles and audio tracks in different languages. At least American DVDs do. And guess what? This one didn't have English subtitles! Just another example of how French products and systems are made expressly for the French, everyone else be damned. I guess this should come as no surprise to me, as I am living here and everything. It's surprising and a bit jarring because I am so used to the American system, replete with multiple language tracks on DVDs and customer service options in Spanish. One of the founding principles of my country of birth is the notion of tolerance and open immigration. The French don't have that. In fact, they have what many call an 'immigration problem'. This ties in to what I've noticed here about immigrants too--if you immigrate to France, the state expects you to fully assimilate into their system. Furthermore, I think many of these experiences and expectations stem from the fact that France has an official national language. America does not. As someone I know said, in many ways America is a truly polyglot nation. Don't get me wrong, I adore France and am having the time of my life here. But sometimes I miss American open-mindedness. Believe me, I know America isn't perfect--far, far from it. Nevertheless, I feel that as a whole, the US is more welcoming, open, and tolerant. Even new York!

Racism and prejudice are GLOBAL issues

The topic of racism is always taboo and prickly. It exists everywhere, however, I have noticed several key differences in the way the French and Americans respond to this issue. A lot of my French compadres waive away accusations of ethnocentrism or racism by saying, "You Americans see racism in everything", "Americans are obsessed with racism", and "Americans are so obsessed with being politically correct all the time". These accusations may be true, and even so, they lie at the heart of these cultural differences. For example, there is an enormously popular film that was released this year called Intouchables. I have not yet seen it, but I have an understanding of the plot. It is about a successful executive who becomes paralyzed and must hire an aide to help with his basic daily actives. The executive is white. The aide is black, recently released from prison, and from the banlieue. The banlieue refers to the suburbs on the perimeter of any big city, in this case, Paris. Although the direct definition of banlieue is 'suburb', it is synonymous for 'ghetto', as it is in these areas where masses of immigrants and minorities live together, sequestered from the city limits. It is also here were the infamous riots occurred in 2005. Okay, now you have the gist of the plot. The New York Times recently wrote an article about the runaway success of the film, in which a review in Variety was quoted. The Variety review found the film rife with racial stereotypes, going so far as to call the young aide an 'Uncle Tom'. I shared this review with my students and colleagues. When I asked one of my colleagues what she thought about the purported racial stereotyping in the film, she told me, 'You Americans are so concerned with racism because it's part of your history, because you had slavery'. I felt this was a cheap excuse, as the French have a troubled history with all their formal colonial territories. Don't even get me started about the anti-Semitism (ahem Dreyfus affair). She continued, 'the fact that the character is from the banlieue and an ex convict refers not to his racial situation, but to his economic status'. Again, cheap evasion. Although that is true, in the banlieue, as in many areas of the United States, poverty and race are often inextricably linked forces that join together to marginalize entire communities. I'm not saying there isn't racism in the United States. Of course there is! All I'm saying is, at least we admit to it. Another acquaintance recently told me that her apartment in Cannes was rented by a Muslim, and that he destroyed the property. She continued to say, "Once they move in to a neighborhood, it is ruined forever". I couldn't believe my ears, but then again, I could, as this is the same woman who once told me that "France doesn't have a racism problem. The problem is the Algerians. They come here. They don't work. They hate us. They do nothing good for our society". Okay. Okay. France, I know you had issues with the Algerian war and everything, but can we please call a spade a spade? I've seen graffiti that says"Nique les Arabes" and "Le Shoah est un mensonge" (Google it!). By denying that these prejudices exist, the French are rendering themselves a disservice. Denial implicitly condones this behavior. It makes me irate to see this kind of bigoted language and behavior rampant. One other favored defense is, "We have the policy of laïcism, we are all equal under the eyes of the law". Not so much. Laïcism, or secularism, is the principle which guides the laws against head covers and displays of religious faith in schools. Furthermore, religion cannot be taught whatsoever in schools. I'm not advocating a dogmatic teaching of religion, but rather, a comparative one. If students don't learn about other faiths and beliefs, how will they ever learn tolerance? Also, the French are far from equal before the law. Women still make dramatically less than men here, even if they work in the same field. An article in Marie Claire magazine last year addressed this issue, with images of women protesting for equal rights in the 70s and now, accompanied by the harrowing headline: "quarante années de lutte, rien a changé" (forty years of struggle, nothing has changed). Pennies for your thoughts!