French Fancy

They say write about what you know. I know when I am having thoughts I shouldn’t vocalise. I know when I’m being a hypocrite.

With that in mind, I’m writing what I know.

Next month will mark ten years of singledom and to my knowledge there hasn’t been one man my age who has been attracted to me and if they have, they certainly haven't asked me out on a date (what’s a date?) Perhaps Yann Moix is not alone in his views. Maybe he’s saying what a lot of other men my age think.

He’s entitled to think that “the body of a 25-year-old woman is extraordinary” and “the body of a woman of 50 is not extraordinary at all”. I disagree. I see incredible bodies everywhere - some belong to my family & friends.

The women I would love to look like are not close to 25; Monica Bellucci (54), Orla Brady (57) and Nigella Lawson (59). Surely Moix can’t disagree.

I read an excerpt of the interview on French Marie Claire’s website.

He said that youth does not dazzle him and he does not find 50 year olds physically repulsive (hurrah!), they are just “invisible” (taking back my hurrah).

At 50 he believes he is capable of loving a woman of 40 and he thinks when he is 60 he will be able to love a 50 year old (presuming any of them become visible to him).

I don’t think many (any?) women are going to be crying over Moix’s revelations but he won’t give a merde.

The most revealing part of the piece is that he has no confidence in himself and a self-esteem close to zero. Hmm.

As a woman on the verge of 50 (how did that happen?) I don’t find him attractive so don’t feel bothered in the slightest that I am too old for him. He’s too old for me.

Moix has been labelled ageist, misogynistic and anti-feminist. Maybe he just has a type. I have a type.

There are men a lot younger than me who are very happy with my body but more importantly, for the first time in a long time, so am I. I have written before about age gap relationships. I don’t actively seek out younger men but I am drawn to them and attracted to them and that has been mutual on many occasions. That doesn’t make me ageist. I usually don’t find out how old they are immediately as I don’t ask - maybe I should. That’s not to say I haven’t found my self attracted to men in their 40s but like Moix, I prefer younger.

Initially I was offended most by his views but then I realised that it was the abrasive way he articulated them. I’m not all that different. I can’t think of a woman accused of misandrist but I suspect if I wrote my preferences down in the same cutting manner of Monsieur Moix, I could very possibly be seen as one.