souillon

[bhhastin]

I want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly:

Faibles femmes

C'est une femme d'intérieur mais elle se doit d'être coquette et bien habillée. Pas question pour elle d'être souillon ni fatiguée.

Weak women

A homemaker should be pretty and well dressed. It's out of the question for her to be slutty or tired.

This is from an article by L'Union des femmes françaises in La Croix refuting the way women were portrayed in textbooks. I believe the first myth they are refuting is that women are weak, but I have to stay that the word "souillon" is confusing me. It translates as "slattern", which I had to look up, and I guess that means like a whore? This all seems very unseemly.

Je vous remercie pour votre aide!

 

[Suehil]

To me it would make sense if you were to translate it as 'slatternly' or 'slovenly', both of which are often used to describe appearance rather than morals.

 

[Chimel]

"Souillon" is a rather old word meaning "une femme sale, malpropre" (related with souiller, souillure...). It has nothing to do with a whore.

Cinderella is accused by her sisters (who are not really her sisters, as we all know... ) to be "une pauvre petite souillon".

 

[bhhastin]

"Slovenly" makes much more sense than "slutty". Merci!