Why France sucks - a serious post/talk about a topic everyone else refuses to speak about
Intro
yeah, I get it. Hating a country is pretty controversial nowadays, especially in the woke era. And to be clear, I think racial injustice/gender inequality are totally valid things to speak about (and in fact will be the two things I discuss here), but I fear we have gone into the opposite direction: basically now we can't criticize anything. It appears, at least to me, nuanced is dead, and you're either far right or far left. I think rather, we should be able to criticize things otherwise you come out with people who go way the opposite of the spectrum (dudes like Andrew Tate).
Why am I qualified to talk about this? I lived in France for 3 years, so yeah, I have some experience. I lived in both Paris and the south in Nice, and I promise you this is not just a "Paris" problem. I will post some links to other articles too, to make my point.
Racism
if you're not white or black (and a man), stay the fuck out of France, because you will have a really bad time. Hell even if you are white and black, make sure you don't get caught in the "wrong" hood. I have heard from many colleagues about the harassment they can receive if you enter the wrong neighborhood, with many people usually shouting at you but also there is a real risk of getting jumped.
When I lived in France, I literally could not leave my house for a single day without having racist remarks shouted at me. Not. A. SIngle. Day. I am not white, or black which is why this is a bit of a problem. Usually, "nihao", "konnichiwa", "you don't want to talk to us you chink bitch" things like that. Every single day. I was honestly astonished, but at least the French are consistent with their racism. I have heard similar stories of Arabic/middle eastern people having similar problems with harassment, so really, anything that is not white or black you will have a problem there.
For those of you who do not speak French: more than half the time on a dating app you will receive a racist message from first contacts. MORE THAN HALF
more racism, in this webtoon Eiko mentions French people don't even think they're racist, because once again, they are too proud to be able to accept that they have problems: https://www.webtoons.com/fr/slice-of-life/eiko-in-paris/ep-43-racisme-asiatique/viewer?title_no=2710&episode_no=43
for even more just search racisme france and you'll get lots of results ;)
Sexual Harassment , Assault, and other misc. dangers
Let me tell you my story of when I first arrived in France. I decided to book ahead a taxi to come pick me up. He was an older man in his 40s. And while he was driving me to my destination told me how much he fancied me and kept trying to grab my hand. I had to pay this guy for a ride and to add insult to injury he also sexually harassed me during the entire ride. So there ya go, starting off hot.
When I was learning French, I also found a "language partner" who was also very creepy and did not understand boundaries. Eventually he made attempts at kissing me and grabbing me, when I was clearly not interested.
creepy "language" partners: https://www.webtoons.com/fr/slice-of-life/eiko-in-paris/ep-9-le-fantasme-de-la-femme-asiatique/viewer?title_no=2710&episode_no=9
Sexual harassment is as ingrained into French society as is there wine. These aggressive dudes exist around literally every single corner. It is overwhelming there. I know that we as a society generally have a problem with sexual harassment, but France is a totally different level of which I had ever seen in any other parts of Europe (having visited/lived in Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Italy, the UK Czech Republic, Greece), when it comes to sexual harassment of women, France takes home the trophy winning by a long shot.
Physical assault and domestic violence is also a huge thing there. It's often thought of as a family matter so don't bother trying to get help from anyone. I was a close friend with a girl who had been physically, sexually and psychologically abused by her bf. But because she was a foreigner, the man French, and he was an alcoholic, the state's solution was to simply give him 6 months of free psychological therapy. Did she receive anything? No. She tried to get a restraining order after he had attempted to strangle her. After meeting with a doctor and affirming strangulation marks and other injuries on her body the police refused to help. He was never sentenced and received no jail time. Because she was a foreigner and he is French (exact words told to her by the police). If you're a foreigner, you have to understand the French laws do not protect you. This is super important to be aware about and I have not found a whole lot of sources about this. This isn't exactly unique, here are some articles to look into:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/02/24/france-is-in-denial-about-domestic-violence/ https://www.dailysabah.com/europe/2019/11/24/france-has-one-of-highest-domestic-violence-rates-in-eu
Also, ya know Pepe LePew? The French skunk that was always harassing a cat? you think that stereotype came out from nowhere? No. It came from French men. The same guys you'll meet if you go to France.
general harassment
wait wait wait but what about!
ahhh what aboutism. Honestly my favorite, and most fun argument. alright I'll entertain it. Yeah, other countries have problems. Americans? Known all around the world for being stupid, ignorant, and USA centered and honestly? 100% true. Most Americans I met (and I am serious about this) think Poland doesn't have internet. Like at all. American bashing among Europeans is fun because you can basically tell them anything and they'll believe it. In high school, when questioned about the vast amount of fruit that foreign exchange students ate, we just told them that fruit was a luxury because fruit doesn't exist in Europe and holy shit they actually bought it. But other countries having problems/issues/being stupid doesn't diminish the problems that France has. France's problems with racism, sexism and sexual assault are still there and until someone, anyone is willing to address it, it's going to continue being a problem.