The New French Paradox?

January 28, 2011

Parisian culture is quickly losing something near and dear to what it means to be Parisian (its happening in London, Rome and other cities as well).

A time honored tradition in France and especially Paris is the gaze, the stare, the obvious and continual look (sometimes up and down but also directly into your eyes) by a complete stranger on the street corner. Generations of woman have been the subject of the male and scrutinizing female gaze in Paris (and vice versa) - walking down the street has as much to do with sport as the pavement itself. In some way, it forces everyone to up their ante or to fluff their feathers in just the right way.

Going outside and simply wandering is a European tradition that we, as Americans, know far too little about. In Paris or Rome or Prague, apartments are small, often shared by an entire family and your only means of privacy is out on the street with the thousands of other male and female potential catches caught in the same situation. At cafes, those sitting at street side tables are like ticket holders – it is their right to gaze and stare at every passerby...simply for the fee of a café.

This very important social aspect of public primping and preening is slowly going by the wayside and you can thank Steve Jobs.

On every street corner, in every café, on the boulevards and even in the shops, young Parisians have their head down instead of up – attached to an iPhone or other texting and email device and they rarely look up – even if your charisma or gaze would have electrified them in the past, today, they are too busy texting to care: http://bit.ly/hZ1yVC

One wonders how many lost relationships or encounters have occurred because of this? Think of Sliding Doors or many other “right place, right time” stories, but in Paris, circa January 2011, Parisian culture is losing its battle with the traditional up and down stare.

While this new-found texting/head-down revolution has been going on in the US for some time, in Paris, it’s relatively new. In the US, we’ve been used to a certain sense of anonymity, brought about by a culture that cultivates a “good fences make good neighbors” suburban mentality. For us, the smartphone is the ultimate fence but also the ultimate security blanket – you can wall yourself off or interact as intimately as you choose. It will be interesting to observe how this newfound lust for wireless contact affects the Parisians moving forward but the immediate sense is that people are getting to know one another far less than in the past – I mean, really getting to know one another. Maybe they are typing more or they count more “friends” than before but they are looking into each other’s eyes less and less.

When you’ve stopped looking at Paris and the Parisians around you, you’ve crossed a line into a certain complacency that so many others in the world would relish in your place. Whoever first uttered the phrase “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone” was never more on-point than today as I stand on Rue Mabillon and I am the only one with my head up looking at the wonder of St. Sulpice.

When the City of Light begins to rely on the glass panel of an iPhone for illumination, the streets have eerily become dim.

- Jon Rimmerman