THE MISTRESS : AMELIA CURRAN

ARE THE FRENCH SEXIER? OR IS THAT JUST A STEREOTYPE? ARE THEY REALLY MISTRESS TOLERANT?

December is the month that closes the year, a month that goes fast, especially if you're a social being.  I tend to get more creative in choosing my subjects for this month, knowing that my mistress-interested readers will still check in, but others will be too busy to read MISTRESS MANIFESTO BLOGSPOT and choose to catch up some time in January.

This December I want to devote some time to a stereotype, of France - and the French, that their sensibility is simply sexier than ours, and that the acceptance of Mistresses is part of their more sensible attitudes about sexuality.  Is this true?  Still true?  Are they a bit crazy or do we have a lot to learn from them?

Over the last several years I've featured a number of French Mistresses or Mistressing that happened to take place in France, or French subjects.  The whole time I've been desperate to feature some Spanish Mistresses, some Hispanic Mistresses, and to discuss what happens in Spain, but comparatively little is available to read or research on that subject published in English, in the United States.

As an American I no doubt was effected by "puritanism" as well as the conservatism of my upbringing in which sex was not only expected to happen within marriage, but was not discussed; I and my peers were raised to be ignorant, had to get our own information; some depended upon and were wrongly informed by romance novels. Two of my high school friends shared one prescription of the Pill, each taking it every other day!

Sex was also the way into marriage for many of my peers, especially when after some time with one partner there occurred a pregnancy. Now - no longer does sex mean that a couple is serious and exclusive and on their way to a life time of togetherness. Now there are many more ways to define one's sexuality such as "fluid."

Reading over the acceptance of sex outside marriage in France, as well as men having Mistresses in France, I learned that it's considered to be OK so long as it does not hurt the FAMILY (this meaning the extended family, not just the nuclear family) and it's thought that having affairs - or Mistresses - PRESERVES MARRIAGE. This is something that I've come to believe is true. Is it American (or Protestant?) to choose a separation or divorce over the discovery that at least one partner has been unfaithful?  

Therefore, while I get cozy with music to set the mood and settle in with my cell phone researching articles, magazines, and books, I ask you to contemplate this question with me. I'll feature a series of articles for you to link to with some excerpts to get that going.

As always you can comment, with ideas, suggestions, personal experiences, and the like.  Pkease Read my Comments Policy in Pages!

WARM HOLIDAYS,

Missy

TAKE FIVE : DAVE BRUBECK

SWEET REUNION

ALL WE HAVE TO BE GRATEFUL FOR - ARE YOU AN INDEPENDENTLY MINDED PERSON?

My friend "Jack" has been with his partner "Johnny" for twenty years.  They are a gay couple.  Johnny was married and has a child that he's remained a good father to since he was born, while Johnny NEVER had a relationship with a woman.  Jack takes care of the house and creates the home, is the parent who drove Johnny's son to school and activities, and except that they are a gay couple, their relationship is more like a traditional marriage with a stay at home wife and mother and out there working father than not.  Johnny makes a very good income.  It's a mystery to me how they deal with money.  Will Jack be protected financially if Johnny, whose the older person, dies? Is Jack on an allowance?  Does he take care of his basic bills and allow Johnny to pay for all the wonderful world travel they embark upon?

Sometimes I worry that Jack is not financially protected, but I've never been able to bring up the subject. 

But one thing Jack is, is grateful. 

He may confide that Johnny works extremely long hours but that he likes it that way; He has never put the man down.  I secretly think that Jack would not be able to put in all those hours if it were not for Jack.

I urged Jack to consider starting a part time business - something just for himself, but he responded that he has " a full life" with Johnny. 

What makes this a topic for Mistress Manifesto BlogSpot is that I worry about Mistresses who are not financially protected.

Within this blog are Mistresses who were pragmatic Gold-Diggers, others who were left heartbroken, alone, and broke. Although the stereotype of a Courtesan or Kept Person is that they are only interested in riches, I tend to think today's more Independently Minded people are more interested in Relationship and Loving, especially as so many are educated and working as well.

Which are YOU?

Missy

HOME SWEET HOME

MISSY LeHAND LEAVES THIS WORLD

Missy LeHand was sent away to try and regain her health, which she never did, and she died weeks shy of her 48th birthday. Her grave says she was "utterly selfless in her devotion to duty" (that is, not her devotion to FDR). There was a Catholic Mass in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to which the White House sent patriotic red and white flowers with blue ribbon to cover her casket. Though dismissed from her job because she could no longer do it, the Roosevelts paid her medical bills to the end.

To her funeral came First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt as well as Joseph P. Kennedy, one of her successful Irish-American friends.

On March 28th, 1945 a military cargo ship was named the USS Marguerite LeHand in her honor.

HYDRANGIA FOR YOUR BUTTON