When I went to primary school in the suburbs of a north-eastern French city, my grand-mother would sometimes pick me up and, on our way home, we would stop at the cobbler's. The shop was old-fashioned, a little bit like in a
Norman Rockwell illustration, or rather a
Robert Doisneau picture, with piles of shoes and a strong odour of glue.
I liked going there, because the cobblers' wife, or so I assumed, was a brunette in her 30's, with tight clothes revealing large, nice breasts, enhanced by a bra that would make them look like bombshells under a pearl necklace. She had a thin waist, always wore tulip shaped skirts, seemed stockings, stiletto shoes, and very red nail polish and lipstick. The quintessence of feminity.
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| Edward D'Ancona pin-up |
I was between 6 and 10, still very innocent, but I sensed that she was a very pretty woman, a sexy woman, although I did not know much about sex. The heady smell of glue mingled with the sight of her used to make me dizzy in a strange way. Above all, I loved her breasts, I liked the contrast between her thin waist and her large breasts, I remember staring at her breasts and thinking "when I grow old, I want the same". I had a confused idea that men liked breasts and therefore, as a woman I wanted to have nice breasts so that men would look at me, and touch my breasts! Yes, at that age, I came to this conclusion!
She was the only woman who made me feel this way, I don't know why, obviously she had a lot of sex appeal. She is the woman who made me think about me being a girl, about the power of a woman's body. It made me feel proud to be a woman, because I would be attractive and I would bear children, which in my mind was a wonderful gift, even if I would have to suffer from menstruating, birth giving, breastfeeding, and all that goes with womanhood. So, I never complained about being a woman, I am proud to be a woman. I had many lovers, I am proud of my body, it still makes heads turn, it gave me three beautiful children, it gives me a lot of pleasure. It gives us a lot of power.
Women are just so beautuful!
