“Nothing but the Facts, M’am”

In a recent post, “Nature vs. Naturisme”, I had made mention of female French newscasters dress code which is quite a bit more relaxed than in the US (and a number of other countries outside of Europe). While researching for the post, I was surprised to see what a splash the French television broadcaster Melissa Theuriau has made on the far side of the pond. (It obviously is not based on the content of her reports because a number of bloggers mention that they don’t know a word of French!)

Suddenly, American guys are wishing they had studied their verb tenses a little more carefully in French 101. Meanwhile, hailing from other parts world, bloggers like African Path blogger Elie Smith (currently based in Paris) are saying ‘why do French female newscasters dress like prostitutes? Elie, this may be a little harsh, don’t you think? Rather than being castigated for unseemly garb, perhaps the lovely newscaster should be receiving the Legion d’Honneur? Consider this. In the past two years, the infant birth rate has drastically increased. For France this is very good news.

Part of the ‘culture shock’ for some visitors to France will undoubtedly be the unabashed exploitation of the female body to sell just about everything (if you’re coming from another Western country – you might not even notice), but even coming from the US of A the heartbeat of capitalism, you might find yourself doing some double-takes at a typical summer advertising campaign plastered over the subway walls and bus stops.

I wondered what effect this flaunting of ‘femininity’ in French media may have had on Segolene Royal’s chances for winning the presidential elections. You may reply ‘totally irrelevant’. But what about the subliminal impact of a female porn star also trying to gain enough votes to run for president? Could Royal’s campaign have been undermined? Or is the acceptance of porn stars going into politics (as in Italy) just a sign that France is a ‘live and let live country’ – where everyone is allowed to express him or herself in any way that she pleases – as long as the results will not hurt anyone?”

But there’s the sticky issue. What about role models for young women? That’s the issue that Elie Smith mentions in his blog.

The problem for most of us who have grown up immersed in a marketing culture based on the premise that ‘sex sells’ is that we are far beyond the point of knowing to what degree we’ve been conditioned. It’s very difficult coming from this mindset and trying to remain objective.