FRANCE: Liberation in the land of love: French women increasingly adventurous, survey shows

Record ID: 334947

  • Title: FRANCE: Liberation in the land of love: French women increasingly adventurous, survey shows
  • Date: 25th January 2010
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LINGERIE ON DISPLAY AT PARIS SEX FAIR.
  • Embargoed: 9th February 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA54YMXGY071JFGI7I3VC4DY3YP
  • Story Text: The staid offices of Top Sante magazine in Paris may not at first sight strike one as the vanguard of the sexual revolution but the respected publication has just published a survey that has left even its staff surprised by quite how liberated the country has become.
    The survey, released late on Thursday (January 22), shows that French women are increasingly adventurous sexually, but still retain a strong sense of romance.
    Roughly one in three women admit to watching blue movies with their partners, while just under half have used some form of accessory.
    "It would appear that the French woman is both romantic and realistic and that she is also sexually very liberated," said Sophie Vidier, the journalist who commissioned the survey. "That's where the figures surprised us. That they have practices, and admit to having practices that are very free as regards their sexuality."
    According to the survey, 78 percent of respondents said they practised fellatio, while a further 44 percent admitted to using accessories.
    Cinema was invented in France and it's clearly something that carries through into the nation's bedrooms: a further 39 percent said they watched blue movies with their partner, according to the survey.
    The survey has become a talking point in France since its release, but French women interviewed about it said it was a sign of the times.
    "I think that there are some things that have always been done, but which are discussed a lot more openly now. It's like everything, there's an evolution as the years go by," said one woman, who gave her name as Helene. "There are certainly things that are done more than before, or less than before. There you go. It's a movement."
    But the survey also showed that if women were more assertive in love, they certainly did believe in it. A clear majority believed strongly in love -- although they were pragmatic about it: love itself is now ranked third behind trust and companionship as the glue that keeps relationships together.
    "The French woman today is waiting for the big love of her life and she believes in it. That's the case of 67 percent of women. But at the same time, they are realistic about the risk of a breakup and 73 percent of them, 73 percent of French women believe a breakup is possible," Vidier said.
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