I speak fluent French and have a pretty large circle of friends from France living as expats in the US.

My French women friends almost to a person agree that gender equality in France is nowhere close to being achieved.

In fact, the attitudes of French men toward women and women’s roles can often startle me. They seem curiously retrograde to my American sensibilities.

I’m not of course claiming that American society even approaches gender equity, only noting that in some ways, French society appears even more sexist than American society.

And my French women friends agree.