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9 Atlantic Crisscross : The Franco-American Contrast s Explaining th e difference s betwee n Frenc h an d America n ap proaches i n a commo n caus e — the battl e agains t fa t — requires some subtlety . Gros s contrast s d o no t work . I f th e Frenc h wer e attuned mor e full y t o th e dictate s o f fashion, middle - and upper class Americans certainl y followe d mos t o f th e sam e trend s wit h considerable interest , diverging mainly after Worl d War II in their more limite d toleranc e fo r partia l nudit y an d th e bod y exposur e this entailed . Whil e American s di d ten d t o ea t faste r tha n th e French, with implications for the amounts consumed and the types of enjoyment an d restraint available, French eatin g time tended to drop in the twentieth century, narrowing the time-at-table gap. The cherished Frenc h lon g lunch bega n t o decline ami d the pressure s of doin g busines s an d commuting . T o th e surpris e o f many , fast food outlets , introduced fro m th e Unite d States , did quit e well i n France fro m th e 1970 s onward ; b y th e 1980s , ove r 1 0 percen t of Frenc h restauran t eatin g occurre d i n thes e settings , whethe r homegrown or chain imports. 1 Correspondingly, th e fundamenta l imperative s requirin g a new approach t o restraint in eating easily crisscrossed the Atlantic. This is why th e basi c timin g o f tw o culture s wa s identical , wit h onl y modest difference s i n phasing . Mor e sedentar y wor k habit s an d less walking t o wor k automaticall y create d pressure s o n amount s consumed. Medica l findings an d healt h warnings , increasingl y geared to the diseases of later age, pressed both the French and the Americans t o watc h thei r die t an d thei r size . Th e impuls e t o standardization, whic h undergirde d effort s t o confor m bod y sizes, 217 218 I Atlantic Crisscross: The Franco-American Contrasts resulted fro m a share d scientifi c an d industria l pattern , an d cer tainly a similar commercia l zea l stoo d read y i n bot h countrie s t o capitalize o n ne w weigh t concerns . Share d aestheti c standards , through fashio n imports , films, international models , eve n beaut y competitions, presse d fo r slimme r figures. Whil e beaut y contest s were a n America n invention , the y quickl y dre w i n Europeans ; France sen t a contestan t t o th e first Mis s Univers e competitio n (Galveston, Texas , 1928 ) wit h considerabl e fanfar e an d consider able chagrin at her failure to win. Finally, both diet cultures spread from th e top down, with lower classes for a long time more preoccupied wit h simpl y assurin g a n adequat e foo d supply , a concer n that relaxe d graduall y an d somewha t incompletely . Her e wa s th e framework i n whic h bot h countrie s move d towar d a new anxiet y about fa t an d a ne w aestheti c fo r th e bod y i n man y o f the sam e ways. The man y shared impulses of two societies that were part of the same industria l civilizatio n war n agains t an y simpl e contras t o f national characters . S o d o th e importan t diversitie s withi n eac h society. Th e Frenc h ar e no t uniforml y devote d t o moderatio n — witness their highe r rate s o f cirrhosis o f the live r du e t o excessiv e alcohol consumptio n an d thei r surprisin g disdai n fo r th e environ mental issues . The y als o hav e thei r ow n minorit y o f overweigh t citizens, thoug h i t i s...

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