Lauren Elkin has written a great piece for The Paris Review, full of excellent definitions and reflections inspired by a new Hermès campaign. I’ll be needing to track down “The Walking Woman” by Mary Austin now.
Flânerie, he explained, is not about “being idle” or “doing nothing.” It’s an “attitude of curiosity … about exploring everything.
The flâneuse is the kind of woman who writes books, and the kind they write books about. You’re not worried about the flâneuse walking alone in the city: she knows how to stand up for herself.
Flâneuserie—to coin a term—is about women moving from being looked at to looking.
The flâneuse is someone who gets to know the city by wandering its streets, investigating its dark corners, peering behind its façades, penetrating its secret courtyards. Rather than wandering aimlessly, like the flâneur, the most salient characteristic of the flâneuse is that she goes where she’s not supposed to.
Une flâneuse à l’étranger 