French attitudes (#3)

 
 (no, this is NOT a hord of Frenchmen)
 French shared values    Are they happy ?

According to all studies (last poll : December 2009), the French share to following values :

 

Is there a French humor ?

  • "I believe that nothing separates people more than their sense of humour" (Theodore Zeldin)
  • As quoted by Hill (quoting Gruner), the French value Wit (intellectual, hostile, aggressive, sarcastic) as opposed to anglo-saxon Humour (emotional, affectionate, gentle, kindly, genial)
  • Therefore, the French sense of humour is more oriented toward others than themselves, less nonsensical than English humour, more cruel. It is never self-deprecating : it is combative, fueled by ridicule and mockery and it needs a target.
  • The French are great teases, which contribute (for naive foreigners) to their reputation of being rude
  • A frequent form of humor is to exagerate excessively a statement to illustrate its falsehood : if you are too literal, you just think it is silly (see on this site an example, sometimes misunderstood)
 

 Who is unhappy in France in 2005 i.e. what are the categories of people who are demonstrating or on strike or both all over the country (according to Le Parisien April 14, 2005) :

  • High school students : huge strikes and demonstrations (200,000) since January against a reform of high school and baccalaureat (loi Fillon)
  • Teachers : same reason
  • Researchers : against public budgets being too small
  • Emergency ward doctors : on strike for more staff
  • Doctors (general practitioners) against a reform of Social Security which (as they think) favours specialists
  • Doctors (specialists), God knows why
  • Judges : for some reason
  • Prison wardens : for more staff
  • Farmers against everyting, including the European Agricultural Policy (of which they are the main beneficiaries)
  • Wine growers : for more public subsidies to compensate the diminishing price of wine ; traditionally, they block expressways and trash everything in city centers
  • Fishermen : blocking harbors to protest against the rising cost of petrol
  • The French love very earthy jokes about sex and bodily functions ; you can hear them in the most unexpected (for Americans) contexts, like at a dinner table with well-educated people. Coluche, whose jokes were literally impossible to translate, was immensely popular.Because their language is so important for them, they love puns, which are hard to follow unless you speak very good French.
  • The most frequent " ethnic jokes " in France are jokes about Belgians (supposed to be stupid), or about Southerners (supposed to be lazy, in "Marius et Olive" or Corsican stories) or Auvergnats (supposed to be cheap)
  • Read about French humour and movies

My favorite French jokes (I assume they are French)

  • Q. How many Frenchmen does it take to change a light bulb ?
    A. Just one, to hold the bulb : the world revolves around him.
  • Beethoven was so deaf that his whole life long, he thought he was a painter
  • Q. What's the quickest way to make a profit ?
    A. Buy a Frenchman for what he's worth and sell him for what he thinks he's worth.
  • Two monks are walking around the monastery cloister reading their breviaries. One of them is smoking a pipe : " Did the father superior agree you could smoke ? " queries his colleague. " I asked him if I could smoke my pipe when I was reading my breviary and he said 'no!' " . "That was your mistake " replies the first " I asked him if I could read my breviary while I was smoking my pipe "
  • More to come...

 

 

 

 
  • All categories of employees : one million (March 10) to defend the 35-hour week, for better salaries and against the suppression of the Monday Pentacost holiday
  • Bank employees : for better salaries
  • Supermarket employees : same, when they learned about the golden parachute of the former CEO of Carrefour (39 million Euros)
  • civil servants : one million (March 10) for better salaries, higher pensions and for the defence of " service public "
  • postmen : all over the country, against the project of becoming a bank, which they call privatization
  • tobacconists : blocking borders against the rise of the price of cigarettes (an element of the government's anti-cancer policy)
  • "intermittents du spectacle" : for some (unknown) reason
  • employees of record and music industry : against the decrease of sales due to internet downloads

In France you're happy if you're old! In November 2008, the National Institute of Statistics (INSEE) published its "Portrait Social de la France". (Source : "Le Parisien", Nov.6, 2008)
 Among many figures about income, equality, inflation, taxes, etc... there is an interesting figure about the feeling of happiness ("Would you say you are happy") with age.It is average at age 20, then steadily decreasing until age 45/50, then up to a maximum between 65 and 70 and then down again.  

   

These days, the French do not have very high spirits :

  • the consumption of tranquilizers is the highest in Europe (x 5 since 1980) : see numbers
  • national mood has been constaly decreasing over the past 30 years (see the trend) and a high proportion (13%) declares he/she "fears becoming homeless", which is an amazing answer....
  • young French people are much more worried about their future than in other countries (25,6% consider it promising as opposed to 54,01% in the US) : see a comparative poll.
  • BUT : they are collectively un-happy and individually happy : in a 2006 survey they gave the following (contradictory) answers : "are the French happy?" : NO=70%, "are you happy ?" YES=80% !

Who is happy : me ! (and few other people : read Harriet's recently published book : "French Toast - Heureuse comme une Américaine en France")

To related pages : curious behaviors (#1)and more attitudes (#2), body language, questions about the French, French issues, anecdotes about life in Paris, French history, etc...

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Harriet Welty Rochefort writes articles and books about France and the French. Order her books :

  • "French Toast, An American in Paris Celebrates The Maddening Mysteries of the French", St.Martin's Press, New York, 1999
  • "French Fried, The Culinary Capers of An American in Paris", St.Martin's Press, New York, 2001
  • "French Toast - Heureuse comme une Américaine en France", Ramsay, Paris 2005

More on Harriet's books (excerpts, upcoming events, testimonials, etc..)

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