Bastille Day, France, National Characteristics, Personality Types....and Chocolate Cake.

"The Storming of the Bastille" by Bernard Rene Jourdan, 1789.

In France this weekend they'll be celebrating Bastille Day - 14 July . On July 14, 1789, an angry armed mob took the Bastille, a medieval Paris fort, stronghold and prison where enemies of King Louis XVI were held. The Bastille was, to the people, a symbol of the despotism of the ruling Bourbon monarchy. This event became the opening salvo of the French Revolution. Louis XVI had ascended to the throne in 1774, facing a debt-ridden government, partly brought about by France's involvement in the American Revolutionary War. The population faced rising food costs, unjust work conditions, and an oppressive nobility and clergy. Widespread crop failures had resulted in famine. The people had every reason to revolt!

Some uncomplimentary stereotypes of the French national personality (if such a thing could possibly exist) have become embedded in the consciousness of people of the UK and USA. While I've never felt much affinity to France in general, I do admire that innate orneriness the French have, or at least had back in the 18th century.

Which thoughts led me to search a while on the matter of national characteristics and stereotypes. Just as there's a grain of truth in Sun sign stereotypes in astrology, there's going to be a grain of truth in national stereotypes. Italians = romantic, artistic, volatile. English = phlegmatic, sturdily independent. Scottish = dour, careful with money. Irish = gregarious, fond of a tipple. Germans = authoritarian, cold, industrious. French = aloof, arrogant, food-loving, artistic, lazy, give up easily.. USA = friendly, acquisitive, loud, full of themselves. Best stop there! Those are characteristics off the top of my head, by the way - others will have different ideas.

I came across a fun post on a blog called Taken by the Wind: Which Country Best Matches Your Personality. The blogger, takes information from Brent Massey's book Where in the World Do I Belong?

Which Country’s Culture Fits Your Myers Briggs Personality Type? There's a link to a shortened version of the long personality type test in the post. I took the test and came out as "INFJ".
Introvert(67%) iNtuitive(38%) Feeling(62%) Judging(22%)

You have distinctive preference of Introversion over Extraversion (67%)
You have moderate preference of Intuition over Sensing (38%)
You have distinctive preference of Feeling over Thinking (62%)
You have slight preference of Judging over Perceiving (22%)

Looking down the list to find in which country my INFJ credentials would fit most harmoniously I found, to my consternation, that I do not fit in anywhere - along with the INTJs. Wouldn't ya just know that an Aquarius Sun wouldn't fit in? So, I'm an outcast on Earth - maybe I'll fit in on a planet in a galaxy far, far away.

Anyway - back to France, where we started: the personality type said to find France (or Jordan) a good fit is ENTJ – The Executive : confident, opinionated, competitive, ambitious and analytical, which is what makes them ideal personalities for leadership roles. They have a natural ability to absorb and analyze large amounts of information and then make quick, often accurate assessments. They have a low tolerance for inefficiency or for people who don’t share their same perspective. Sometimes they can come across as overbearing or aggressive but they genuinely love people, are excellent conversationalists and can be quite sentimental.

On another level:

“He showed the words “chocolate cake” to a group of Americans and recorded their word associations. “Guilt” was the top response. If that strikes you as unexceptional, consider the response of French eaters to the same prompt: “celebration.”
― Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

Show chocolate cake to me and I'd say - who made it? If it were one of my grandma's I'd say YUM! If it were one from Walmart or other US supermarket I'd say - YUK! That must be where the "J" in INTJ comes in: judgement!