Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting

In Druckerman’s framing, parenting conventions are shaped by culture. Druckerman positions herself as unlocking the secrets of French parenting and contrasting it with American approaches, which are ineffective and even detrimental. Still, the book’s goal is not to glorify one culture over the other but rather to provide parents with an alternative methodology and some evidence supporting its efficacy.

Many of the differences Druckerman points out between France and the US are anecdotal observations with little scientific basis; instead, they stem from her attempts to assimilate into the French culture around her. After feeling embarrassed at her daughter’s behavior at a restaurant and the self-conscious feeling that only her baby is fussy, Druckerman claims that French children rarely throw tantrums, can handle being told “no,” and don’t require constant attention, while American children are needy and unable to cope with frustration. Druckerman also claims that American mothers are often totally consumed by this role and lack hobbies, social lives, or jobs. She calls this out as an especially pressing issue because she believes that women who subsume themselves in parenting cannot be happy.

Druckerman frequently makes broad generalizations about French and American parenting, which fits her assumption that parenting is an extension of the cultural zeitgeist.