10 Myths About French Women
Ageless, effortless, hard to get? We separate fact from fiction on ten popular myths about French women.
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1. First and foremost on the list is something we hear at every turn: French women don’t get fat.2. French women are hard to get.3. French women are smokers.4. French women are rude.5. French women go topless at the beach.6. French women like sex (a lot).7. French women are effortlessly perfect.8. French women don’t shave.9. French women don’t smile.10. French women have a more casual attitude about infidelity.It would seem as though the rest of the world is deeply fascinated with French women. Think: ageless beauty glamorously wrapped in haute couture, exuding an alluring sophistication and je ne sais quoi while drawling seductively in rich melodious tones. What’s not to be fascinated about?
There are a lot of myths that pop up when we pause to talk about this topic. It seems like everyone has an opinion or two. So in this article, let us once and for all tackle the different myths surrounding French women.
Which ones are real and proven, and which ones are pure baseless drivel that needs to be debunked?
Here, we’ve listed them for you. You can tell us merci later.
1. First and foremost on the list is something we hear at every turn: French women don’t get fat.
This topic has spawned books, diets, articles, and way too much uproar.
But the question is, do they really not get fat?
Answer: FALSE.
French women DO get fat, but not at the same rate as the other parts of the world. With the advent of fast food, snacking, and forgetting the old ways little by little, the obesity rate for French women has been rising in recent decades, and about 17% of adult French women were obese in 2020, according to the Obepi survey.
But this figure is still well below that of many other countries. This could be attributed to the French women’s healthy outlook when it comes to food, as well as their penchant for walking, cycling, and other ingrained habits that are known to help keep weight down.
For a discussion of habits behind the slimness stereotype, check out this page.
2. French women are hard to get.
French women have an air of mystery about them that men could interpret as playing hard-to-get. In a 2012 analysis of interactions on Badoo, female users in France were the least likely among the European markets compared to respond to a male user’s online approach. Those were results from that website, rather than a measure of all French women’s behavior.
But is this true for real-life scenarios as well?
Answer: TRUE for that dated online comparison; unproven for real-life encounters.
Maybe this is because some French women are so used to male attention that the men who wish to spark a romantic interest just have to try a lot harder. Pour in a little more “la séduction” maybe?
3. French women are smokers.
The media has fed on this frenzy, depicting French women as smokers (albeit really glamorous ones) who “would rather be dead than fat”. Unfair? Yes. There is a kernel of truth in it, though: the smoking debate goes on and on in France despite the public smoking ban. But exactly how many French women smoke? Are ALL of them smokers?
Answer: FALSE.
Not all French women smoke, but about 21% of women aged 18–75 in mainland France smoked daily in 2023. That is still a sizeable share, even though smoking is slowly declining in France.
4. French women are rude.
Well actually, this is a pervading stereotype that affects all French people, regardless of gender. We hear of rude waiters, salespeople, and basically almost everyone you come across on any French street. But what is the truth behind it?
Are the French truly, hideously rude?
Answer: FALSE.
The French are, in fact, quite friendly people despite the standoffish facade, but cultural differences might lead foreigners to think otherwise. For example, interrupting someone while talking is not a big deal at all. Being a pushover, on the other hand, is not considered a good trait to acquire, and you are more likely to earn respect if you assert yourself and defend your ideas. If you can get past the sort of snobbish formality, you could be in for a wonderful surprise.
5. French women go topless at the beach.
While the French women do seem a lot more comfortable in their skin than other nationalities, not all of them actually lie on the beach uncovered. There is a good mix of women with tops on and off, so this generalization is faulty to say the least.
But hey, wouldn’t the world be a brighter place if they did?
Answer: FALSE.
Not all of them go topless. But going bare-topped is widely accepted on French beaches, and there are naturist beaches where people go completely naked. The French are very liberal when it comes to this type of thing.
6. French women like sex (a lot).
Ah, the well-known image of the sensual femme française, lounging around in her lacy undergarments and oozing with sex appeal. But are French women really into sex?
Answer: TRUE for many individuals; activity figures alone don’t measure desire.
Many French women are sexually active. In the 2023 Contexte des sexualités en France survey, 77.2% of women aged 18–69 in mainland France reported sexual activity with a partner in the previous year. Among women aged 50–89, the figure was 56.6%. An earlier press report on French sexual activity discussed the topic too, but being sexually active does not establish how much every woman wants sex.
7. French women are effortlessly perfect.
From magazine covers, runways, TV, and movies, we see the epitome of French women as ridiculously perfect from head to toe. With a little makeup, not too coiffed (but still perfect) hair, and to-die-for outfits, these women look like Venus herself, gracing humanity with her presence. But are they truly effortlessly perfect and just simply born with it?
Answer: FALSE.
Journalist Peggy Frey has previously debunked this myth in the French paper Le Figaro. According to the article, French women have a slew of beauty routines that are kept with utmost secrecy. They are also said to be the biggest consumers of anti-wrinkle creams in Europe.
8. French women don’t shave.
It’s probably time to put this rather silly cliché to rest.
Answer: FALSE.
French women do shave. But many don’t do it themselves with home shaving kits and depilatory creams; they would rather visit the spas and beauty salons that are in abundance. They are, in fact, impeccably groomed.
9. French women don’t smile.
We hear this a lot too. They rarely smile. Or do they?
Answer: TRUE.
They don’t make it a point of smiling to strangers. If they do, it probably means they no longer want to be strangers. But see no. 2 on this list to find out why this is unlikely. Anyway, that is simply part of their mystique: the allure, the mystery. The good thing is, if they smile, then you’ll know they’re really happy and the smile is genuine.
10. French women have a more casual attitude about infidelity.
Some call it turning a blind eye, some think of it as unruffled composure. French psychologist Maryse Vaillant, author of ‘Les Hommes, l’amour, la fidélité’ (Men, Love and Fidelity), has been quoted in press coverage as saying,
“Our culture isn’t as harsh about infidelity as, say, the Anglo-Saxon countries … where cheating on your wife is seen as very bad, by the wife, the cheater and the whole community. There, people would rather get divorced and remarry, whereas in France we can imagine someone being married and having relationships at the same time.”
Answer: TRUE.
Some even go as far as claiming that French women “don’t just tolerate infidelity, they expect it”. As the French psychologist puts it, the role of the supportive wife who accepts that her husband may stray from time to time is well understood in French culture.
