When it comes to stereotypes, France and French people are often depicted a certain way. The media has always portrayed all of France (but mostly Paris) in a very particular way.
It has now become very common to romanticise French life and people. In common imagination, French people wear berets, trench coats, striped shirts (“marinières”) and red lipstick for women. It is also very common to think of French people as wearing designer brands on a daily basis. It’s also expected for Parisians to go shopping, eat croissants and buy “baguettes'' every day. These cliches are totally inaccurate. In France, people who follow the stereotypical way of dressing are often tourists visiting Paris. And even though Paris may be portrayed as the “city of love”, it has enjoyable parts and less touristic parts of it. Even the French countryside, which is usually romanticised, is similar to most of countrysides in Europe.
Today, it has become very popular to dress “like a French person” and in a lot of TV shows and movies, French people are portrayed as a stereotypical version of themselves, usually with a French accent when they get to speak English.
Even though the image the world has of France certainly influences tourism, it is a pretty inaccurate depiction of reality and may, in some cases, create false expectations.
-Ines Latrille-France (near Paris)
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