"En Meme Temps": the Contradictory Roles and Images of Women in French Media and Culture

Abstract

This thesis, based on interviews with eleven French women aged 18 to 54, will explore the interplay of these voices as they struggle with what it means to be a woman in their society. Often the voices contradict each other, and at times even contradict themselves. One of the phrases which echoes throughout the interviews is "en meme temps," or, "at the same time," pointing to the multiple roles, duties, feelings, and images that make up a woman's experience. Each woman who participated in these interviews expressed the opinion that the images of women offered by the media are often not consistent with reality. However, real or not, these images have very real consequences in women's lives--consequences which play themselves out in women's social status and in their self-concept.