What is a Flâneuse?

A flâneuse is a woman who explores at leisure, takes the path that strikes her fancy, and observes while sitting alone.

Historically, men have been more at liberty to wander alone, and the unaccompanied woman considered unseemly or at risk of harm.

In 1888, the poet Amy Levy wrote:
”The female club-lounger, the flâneuse of St James Street, latch-key in pocket and eye-glasses on the nose, remains a creature of the imagination.”

Of course, women have always been engaging with their surroundings in whatever way they can! But the 20th century brought new opportunities and social trends that allowed women to wander more freely outside the home.

Virginia Woolf relied on this freedom to wander in order to craft her stories, calling her walks “street haunting,” and even writing an essay by that name. In going out onto city streets alone, one becomes

“part of that vast republican army of trampers.” - Virginia Woolf

In her book Flâneuse, Lauren Elkin describes the “total freedom unleashed from the act of putting one foot in front of the other” in her travels from city to city.

Women practicing flânerie began with something of rebellion, which it retains to this day, though women are, in most places at least, more free than they were 100 years ago.

So go out. Have a walk. Stop at a cafe. Wear something that makes you happy, sip your coffee in solitude, and watch strangers on the street. Enjoy the beautiful slices of life that materialize when you hit pause on everything else.

You can be a flâneuse.