Ma\u00efa Mazaurette, a French sex columnist:<\/p>\n
I can only compare it to the countries I\u2019ve lived in \u2014 Germany, and now Denmark, and I\u2019ve made some trips to the U.S. I\u2019d say the main difference is that in France we\u2019re so straightforward. We don\u2019t have these dating rituals; we just start with sex! And then, if the sex was good enough or we feel connected somehow, then we would try to build a relationship.<\/p>\n
So you always have sex on the first date, then?<\/p>\n
Absolutely! But it\u2019s not even an issue because there is no date. There is just first sex. You think someone is attractive, you give it a try. I think it really makes sense. (Of course I say that, because I\u2019m French, right?) But if you don\u2019t have sex first, you build up too much pressure. You start thinking, I have seen this guy for four or five restaurants, or however you do it in the U.S., and what if it fails? If you get sex out the way first, then you can only have good surprises.<\/p>\n
I never dated an American guy, but even with Danish and German guys, there were so many dates and it was taking so much time. At some point I just felt like, Ahhh! Stop it, are you going to kiss me? Are we going to your place? My place? Do something!<\/em> I felt like I was investing a lot of time in something that might not be worth it anyway.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s interesting to me that France is a predominantly Catholic nation, and yet the culture is so sexually free.<\/em><\/p>\n
Yes, but we don\u2019t connect sex with ethics or morality or values in general, you know? There have been many studies about how French people don\u2019t care about the sex life of our president, or if a person is unfaithful. It\u2019s absolutely not a problem for me. Now, if my boyfriend and I have an agreement, that\u2019s important. But I actually see a lot of my friends who are a bit older than me, maybe 40 or 45, who are always renegotiating the boundaries of their relationship. And a lot of them are okay with being unfaithful, as long as you don\u2019t say it. It\u2019s actually quite old-fashioned, as if we\u2019re in the Victorian era, and your husband or your wife is the person you share children, a house, and money with, but for passion or a bit of adventure, you go elsewhere. The couple is not the place for adventure. It\u2019s the place where you want to feel safe and watch Game of Thrones.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ma\u00efa Mazaurette, a French sex columnist: I can only compare it to the countries I\u2019ve lived in \u2014 Germany, and now Denmark, and I\u2019ve made some trips to the U.S. I\u2019d say the main difference is that in France we\u2019re so straightforward. We don\u2019t have these dating rituals; we just start with sex! And then,…<\/p>\n