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woman keeps her maiden name all her life, legally. She votes
and pays taxes under that name, but rarely uses it socially.
The Transplanted Woman
Gabrielle Varro has lived in Paris for 35 years and is author of a
book about international women, like herself, married to French
men.
The Transplanted Woman
examines a number of the problems
of intercultural marriages and multicultural children. She says that
knowledge of the Napoleonic Code is essential for understanding the
status of men and women in France. Although new laws regarding
marriage and the rights of women came into effect in the 1970s,
cultures change at a slower pace. Women can expect to be treated
differently in France, both legally and culturally.
The role of women in the workplace is still fairly
conservative. While small, entrepreneurial family businesses
thrive, and women (wives) are very much involved, the man
is still the head of the family. Male authority carries through
into the corporate world. There are growing numbers of
exceptions to this rule and in principle the French believe in
the equal rights for women.
In reality, though, both women and men celebrate the
differences between them. This enthusiasm for the opposite
sex helps balance out the power structure better than any
equal rights laws could. The French make an important
distinction between 'sexy' and 'sexist'.
In 2000, a law was passed requiring all political parties to
present equal numbers of men and women as candidates.
The municipal elections in 2001 increased the participation
of women to 33 per cent.
The Fonctionnaire: Patience and Respect
Government workers (
les fonctionnaires
) and employees in
large government-run organisations represent 40 per cent
of the population of France today. In a world so centralised,
you are going to meet a lot of these people and you must
learn how to work with them.
These people don't have much status in the hierarchy, but
they have great job security. They don't have to be nice to
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