PARIS — On a recent weekday, Clemence Dubreuil had no school because her teachers were on strike, so the 9-year-old begged her mother to take her to a museum to see a new exhibit about sex.
If that all sounds very French, it is: Strikes are as much a part of the national character as frank talk about sex. But as the exhibit and the mild controversy surrounding it are proving, the cliches need some updating.
The exhibit in northeast Paris attempts to respond playfully to the serious questions tweenagers ask about sexuality and romantic feeling. Inspired by a guide to sex by the popular cartoonist Zep and writer Helene Bruller, the exhibit also encourages children and their parents or teachers to shed all modesty and embarrassment about touchy topics and start talking.
"The kids were talking about this stuff at school and Clemence didn't understand," said her mother, Danielle Dubreuil, who prefers bringing her curious daughter to the exhibit rather than discussing such topics with her alone.
"We talk about some things," the 42-year-old mother said, hesitantly, "but penetration -- that I had trouble with."
The French are well known for a more open attitude about sex and for believing that the freedom to display their bodies -- unclad on billboards or in tight street clothes -- is a fundamental cultural value, a bit like "the pursuit of happiness" in America.
But many people have expressed regret that, contrary to French values, sex is often taught in schools and at home through the prism of anatomy, reproduction and prevention of disease rather than the emotions surrounding it.
"We don't want to replace the French family," said the exhibit's curator, Maud Gouy, "but we want the exhibit to be another view of what goes on between men and women without it being . . . raw. Instead, we promote respect, romantic feelings, pleasure."
At the Cite des Sciences et de l'Industrie science museum, Zep's popular character Titeuf, a sort of French version of Calvin of "Calvin and Hobbes," and some of his classmates, such as the brainy Nadia, guide the visitors. They ask questions such as, "What does making love mean?" and "If a pregnant woman eats spinach, does the baby in her tummy taste it too?" (Adults are cautioned to respect bashful young visitors, giving them space to view the displays.)
A 'love-o-meter'
