Partly, this is because Frenchwomen don’t expect men to be their equals. They view men as a separate species that by nature isn’t good at booking babysitters, buying tablecloths, or remembering to schedule checkups with the pediatrician. “I think Frenchwomen accept more the differences between the sexes,” says Debra Ollivier, author of What French Women Know. “I don’t think that they expect men to rise to the plate with the same kind of meticulous attention and sense of urgency.”
