French women seem to have it all: multiple children, a job and, often, a figure to envy。

　　What they don't have is equality. A recent 22-country survey by the Pew Research Center summed it up: three in four French people believe men have a better life than women, by far the highest share in any country polled。

　　"French women are exhausted," said Valérie Toranian, editor-in-chief of Elle magazine in France。

　　"We have the right to do what men do — as long as we also take care of the children, cook a delicious dinner and look immaculate. We have to be superwoman."

　　France ranks 46th in the World Economic Forum's 2010 gender equality report, trailing the United States, most of Europe, but also Kazakhstan and Jamaica。

　　Francecrystallizes the paradox facing many women across the developed world in the early 21st century: They have more say over their sexuality (in France birth control and abortion are legal and subsidized)， they have overtaken men in education and are catching up in the labor market, but few make it to the top of business or politics。

　　Having children is relatively easy in France, one reason Paris seems to teem with stylish career women with several offspring. At 31, Fleur Cohen has four children and works full-time as a doctor. As she drops her youngest at nursery in stilettos heels and a pencil skirt you would never guess that she gave birth only three months ago。

　　In Paris, Ms. Cohen's husband is a doctor, too. But she bathes all four children, cooks and does the Saturday shopping. "If I didn't prepare food for my children, I would feel less like a mother," she said。

　　Women spend on average five hours and one minute per day on childcare and domestic tasks, while men spend two hours and seven minutes, according to the national statistics office Insee。

　　A majority of medical graduates in France are female. Yet all 11 department heads in her hospital are men。

　　"French men have always been slow to give up power," said Jean-Francois Copé, parliamentary leader of President Nicolas Sarkozy's center-right party, who is defending a bill to oblige companies to fill 40 percent of boardroom seats with women. Women were allowed to vote for the first time only in 1945. Since a 1998 law obliged political parties to have an equal number of men and women candidates on their party lists, parties have tended to pay fines rather than comply。

　　Four pieces of equal pay legislation have passed since 1972. But in 2009, even childless women in their forties still earned 17 percent less than men。

　　法国女性似乎样样不缺，她们有一群孩子，有一份工作，还有一副令人羡慕的好身材。

　　但她们缺一样东西：那就是平等。皮尤调查中心近日对22个国家开展的一项调查显示，四分之三的法国人认为法国男性的生活质量高于女性，该比例居各受访国之首。

　　法国版《Elle》杂志主编Valérie Toranian说：“法国女性过得很累。”

　　“我们可以做男人所做的事——但前提是我们要同时照顾好孩子，能做得一手好菜，还要把自己打扮得漂漂亮亮。我们得做个‘女超人’。”

　　法国在世界经济论坛2010年性别平等度排名报告中名列第46位，位居美国和欧洲大多数国家之后，甚至落后于哈萨克斯坦和牙买加。

　　21世纪早期发达国家很多女性所面临的悖论在法国得到了充分体现：女性在生育方面有了更多的话语权(在法国，节育和堕胎合法并受到政府补贴)；女性的受教育水平超过男性，在就业市场的地位逐渐提高，但却鲜有人进入商界或政坛高层。

　　在法国要孩子相对比较容易，所以在巴黎随处可见外表入时、却已是几个孩子母亲的职场女性。31岁的弗勒•科恩已是四个孩子的母亲，她现在是一名全职医生。当你看见她脚踩高跟鞋、穿着A字裙把孩子送到托儿所去时，你一定想不到她三个月前刚刚生了孩子。

　　科恩的丈夫也是一名医生。但她(除了工作外)，每天还得给四个孩子洗澡，做饭，每周六还得出去购物。她说：“如果我不给孩子们做饭，我会觉得自己没尽到母亲的责任。”

　　据法国全国统计办公室Insee的统计数据显示，法国女性平均每天照顾孩子和做家务活的时间为5小时1分钟，而男性在这些事情上所花的时间为2小时7分钟。

　　法国多数医学院毕业生为女性。但在科恩所在的医院，所有11个科室的负责人都是男性。

　　法国总统尼古拉•萨科齐领导的中右翼政党(人民运动联盟)的议长让-弗朗索瓦•科普说：“法国男性的权力意识较强。”目前该党正推动一项议案，要求公司中的女董事比例不得低于40%。法国女性于1945年获得选举权。1998年，法国通过了一项要求政治团体中男女成员人数相同的法案，但各政党则宁愿交罚款，也不愿服从。

　　1972年后法国共通过了四项推动男女报酬平等的法律。但2009年，四十多岁没有子女的女性的收入仍比男性低17%。