Praising older Frenchwomen

For those on the wrong side of 40, France offers a refreshing contrast to the Anglo-American obsession with youth. Where else are politicians, singers and actors routinely described as young when they are approaching the half century or beyond?  In Britain, Tony Blair, a weary 52, faces an opposition leader in his 30s. In France, the supposedly young political guard are Nicolas Sarkozy and Dominique de Villepin, who are both in their early 50s. The Interior Minister and Prime Minister are each promising generational change in their duel to succeed President Chirac, 73, in elections next year. On the celebrity front, Johnny Hallyday, 63, the eternal rockeur national, still rules the roost as France's highest-earning star. He is a spring chicken beside the two still-performing dinosaurs of French pop, Henri Salavador, 89, and Charles Aznavour, 81.

The French exception over age is even greater for women.

Les françaises d'un certain âge have always taken good care of themselves -- more so than men. And yes, Frenchwomen have been shut out of power more than those elsewhere. But they are catching up and older women have been making a splash of late.  Many of the most glamorous movie stars are around the half century mark. Nathalie Baye, who last weekend won the French best actress award for her role as a police detective in Le Petit Lieutenant, is 58. Isabelle Huppert, starring in the latest Claude Chabrol, L'Ivresse du Pouvoir, is 50, and of course Catherine Deneuve, still the benchmark of beauty, is 62.  Charlotte Rampling, 59, a French star more than a British one these days, plays a very carnal seductress in her latest film Vers le Sud. "It's desire that keeps me young," she said the other day.

On the political front, Ségolène Royal, the Socialist who is leading the early race for the 2007 presidency, is 54. Her stylish, youthful looks are a big part of her attraction for voters. This week another woman politician has come to the fore: Françoise de Panafieu, 57 (portrait above), a Gaullist former minister who has won a party primary to stand in the next election against Bertrand Delanoe, the Mayor of Paris. De Panafieu, white haired but a sportive Rollerblader with a fondness for leather jackets, was described by one politically incorrect paper today as une belle femme. France Soir said that she and Royal -- who total 111 years between them --  "embodied the public's yearning for a renewal of the political elite."

Another French celebration of older women has reached bookshops this week. In Un âge nommé désir: fémininité et maturité (Albin Michel), two fiftysomething authors sing the praises of les baby-boomeuses. This generation, now entering their 60s, is, say Elisabeth Weissmann and Régine Lemoine-Darthois, refusing to retreat into matronhood. Free from children, they are divorcing their decrepit husbands at record rates in a search for fulfilment, emotional, sexual and intellectual. "Physically and mentally, they are 10 years young than their mothers at the same age," the pair say. "At 55, women have as many years to go as they are lived since they were 20 years old." France still has some catching up to do, however. Fewer older women are employed than in the rest of northern Europe or North America. Two out of three women over 55 are retired or unemployed. 

Comments

[Sarah]

I'm in the right place then... being just on the wrong side of 40, and yes, it is nice not to be consigned to the rubbish heap because one is no longer vibrantly young.

[all]

Madame de Panafieu ne se teint pas les cheveux, mais Ségolène triche. Parce qu'elle est de gauche ? / Madame de Panafieu does not colour her hair, but Segolene cheats. Is that because she is on the left ?

[Victor Tan]

Mature women, fear not that you may be the wrong side of whichever numeric. Read "In Praise of Older Women" by Philip Roth published in 1965 or the more recent publication of a similar title by Stephen Vizinczey, published in 2001 with rave reviews in Amazon.com.

[Lorraine]

While we're at it, why not try to see (as I don't know if it's available on video or by any other means) that 'sleeper' film of the late 70's, called "In Praise of Older Women," with Karen Black (who of course was still relatively young, but, this being America...). It's a great--one might even say 'sly'--combination of non-PC and liberated views of both sex and women. I think both men and women will appreciate the film's play on the so-called "Old World" rites of initiation of young men into sex by older women. 'Nuff said!

[Felix Lowe]

I think the French blogger deeply misunderstood the tone of Mr Bremner's piece - which was essentially neutral and light-hearted as opposed to 'insolent' and 'perfide'!! It's an example of things being a little lost in translation and comprehension...

[Jules]

Hi Felix,
I am "the french blogger".
You might have misunderstood my post in which I used typical french "irony". The words "insolent" or "perfide" are pure "irony" in my post. The tone of my post is ironic. And it's easy to catch this irony in French.
It is another example of things being a little lost in translation.
;-)

[Felix Lowe]

Sorry Jules, j'ai fait gaffe... I guess the joke is on me then!

[Felix Lowe]

Hi Jules, me again. It's interesting - now that I have re-read your blog, the irony, nay light sarcasm, of your words do jump out! I find it funny - although not wholly surprising - that I did not detect it the first time round. Firstly, having lived in France for over two years I can honestly say that, amongst my own French friends at least, irony and sarcasm is a tool spread thin: they just don't seem to get it or employ it. Often an ironic comment made by yours truly is met with a confused gaze; slapstick or dot-to-dot humour seem to be more the order of the day. Which is baffling given the deep and delightful ironic tones of much French literature and film, past and present. Also, a lot of the French people who post on this, Mr Bremner's, blog often criticise him for simplification or writing in what they deem a cliched anglo-saxon tone. Having read your post in haste, I presumed - maybe presumptuously - that you were just another angry knit-picker! Of course, I'm sure you'll accept my sincere apologies. But this whole episode, for me, captures what could be an enthralling future topic for Charles...

[Thierry]

I beg to differ on the lesson to be learned here: all this is showing is how the pre-boomers and the boomers have conspired to steal French society from the younger generations. If those personalities appear so clearly on the radar, it's simply because no-one younger has been given a fighting chance. Even the scions of celebs are struggling to make a name for themselves!