Charm Offensive: Commodifying Femininity in Postwar France

"This truly fascinating study not only helps us understand the way culture, gender, and politics intersected in postwar French history, but it also takes up a central cultural image of postwar French society – the Air France air hostess – and carefully explains how and why this image became the powerful and enduring cultural icon that it did."

Maud S. Mandel, President and Professor of History, Williams College

"This richly researched book details how France’s postwar government created an image of French femininity and then exported this cultural commodity abroad. It provides the fascinating history behind enduring perceptions of French women as slender, beautiful, and sophisticated. Moreover, it makes essential contributions to our understanding of France’s postwar position, including French efforts to raise their country’s international profile during the Cold War."

Margaret Andersen, Associate Professor of History, University of Tennessee Knoxville

"Kelly Ricciardi Colvin’s compelling history traces the significance of soft power in French diplomacy at a time of defeat and decolonization and offers an entirely novel perspective on the making of postwar French national identity."

Carolyn J. Dean, Charles J. Stille Professor of History and French, Yale University