Civil Unions Gaining over Marriage in France

Scott Sayare and Maïa de la Baume, writing in the New York Times, Dec. 15, 2010:

Whatever their reasons, and they vary widely, French couples are increasingly shunning traditional marriages and opting instead for civil unions, to the point that there are now two civil unions for every three marriages...

While the partnerships have exploded in popularity, marriage numbers have continued a long decline in France, as across Europe. Just 250,000 French couples married in 2009, with fewer than four marriages per 1,000 residents; in 1970, almost 400,000 French couples wed.

Germany, too, has seen a similar plunge in marriage rates. In 2009, there were just over four marriages per 1,000 residents compared with more than seven per 1,000 in 1970. In the United States, the current rate is 6.8 per 1,000 residents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Read the entire article here.

The boyish look is being replaced by the "manly trend"

“For a long time it was just those skinny guys, those boyish Prada types,” [Jason Kanner] said, referring to men like Cole Mohr — a model with jug ears and the body of a teenager — long a favorite at labels like Prada and Louis Vuitton. “I hate to use the word waif, but what else can you call all these skinny young hairless guys?”

But now, it's the "real" man type. Jon Hamm and his ilk. Metrosexual look on its way out?

More from Guy Trebay, writing in the New York Times, October 17, 2010.

(Photo by Lee Clower, for the NY Times. Chris Winter, on left, illustrates the boyish look, now seemingly being replaced by the manly look of Doug Porter, on the right.)