I’m watching le coup de monde avec un verre de vin rouge tonight…… I think it’s safe to say I’m embracing the French culture as much as possible after close to a year here (I would’ve added a charcuterie too but I’m a vegetarian and not a big fan of cheese so I opted against it) I also spoke French in the store without too much hesitation today so another win in the books for me.
Last Saturday, I scoured every tv channel in search of the US vs Netherlands game and had no luck, but since then I have been able to find every game and I just don’t understand why. I’m not sweating it too much though, I never shed a tear over missing the USMNT play, but the USWNT on the other-hand…..missing one of their games is worth a few tears.
I watched the last half of the Morocco vs Portugal game earlier tonight and ooooooof, it was a pretty solid match. I’m all for colonizing countries getting defeated so I was happy to see Morocco win. I would love to see them play France and defeat them too but I feel like those may be fighting words here so I don’t share that opinion out loud. But now that I’ve brought it up, I’m sure that opinion isn’t the most controversial opinion I have about France. One of their most popular cartoons (I’m looking at you, Astérix et Obélix) provide very out-dated, racist portrayals of characters, I can’t stand watching it but T prefers them over every other film they own. My biggest problem though is with the mindset around diets. So many commercials on TV promote restrictive diets or meal plans and in the grocery store, you can find ‘fat-burning’ products mixed into the shelf with vitamin supplements. I had a conversation with a girl and she told me that she started her first diet when she was 7 years old (!!!!!). I’ve struggled with body dysmorphia since the first grade and I wasn’t even surrounded by all the triggering things that exist in France (not to say I didn’t encounter triggers), so I can only imagine how I would’ve fared here.
While I’m on the topic of body dysmorphia, I think it’s worth mentioning how I always go back-and-forth on if I want to air that vulnerability openly but, in most cases, decide to because today’s society, while it is improving, is still so casually triggering for people who struggle with body image. (This section is referring to my experience in the states) I think the younger generation is a lot more aware of triggers but people comment on other’s bodies so casually and I despise it. My most problematic phrase is anything along the lines of “you’re so skinny.” No. Just, no. I think it perpetuates fat-phobia because you would never say to someone “you’re so fat.” Just the connotation between the two words is drastically different for absolutely no reason.. Also, what if the person you called skinny is working to gain weight while struggling with an ED and you just made them question their efforts. Even if someone isn’t triggered by the comment (literally can only imagine this situation hypothetically), how are they meant to respond. What is the desired outcome? I could go on all night about this, drawing on way more personal experience than I would like (a lot of it, disappointingly, from my family) but I will save you from this potential rage fire.
Thanks for reading.
In case you need more resources, these are a good place to start
Tash the Traveler 