6 / CHRONICLESnDissertations, not diapers, are commandingnthe attention of an increasingnnumber of young American women.nAccording to The Chronicle of HighernEducation, “women are flocking tongraduate school in record numbers,nand many are speciahzing in fields thatnwere dominated by men a dozen yearsnago. Today, women are earning onethirdnof all the doctoral degrees awarded.”nWhat The Chronicle did not report,nhowever, was that this femalenrush into higher learning has beennaccompanied by a decline in thenAmerican birthrate to a historic low:nrecent census figures indicate that thenaverage American woman now bearsnonly 1.7 children, significantly belownthe Zero Population Growth level ofn2.1.nAccording to statistics recendy releasednby Harvard economist DavidnBloom, permanent childlessness hasnreached its highest rate since the GreatnDepression, while an all-time high ofn11 percent of American women willnnever marry. Bloom reported thatnchildlessness is particularly commonnamong professional women and thatnthose professional women who do bearnchildren typically delay their first childnuntil after the age of 27. Bloom didnpredict, however, that America willnwitness a baby boomlet in the next fewnyears as female baby boomers whonpostponed childbearing for educationnand career finally start thinking aboutnputting infant-seats in the backseats ofntheir BMW’s.nThe current crop of women graduatenstudents had better hope Bloom isnright. After all, how many collegenprofessors—male or female—does angeriatric nation need? On the othernhand, new residents and fertile immigrantsncontinue to stream across ournuncontrolled southern border. Spanish,nanyone?nCULTURAL REVOLUTIONSnThe French film trade seems stuck in anrut, with most of its offerings fallingninto predictable categories: the latestndisappointing products of aging NewnWave directors, the police thrillers,nthe increasingly disgusting sex farces.n(Of France’s entries at Gannes thisnspring, one had the male lover chasenafter the husband, another made thenwife’s lover a chimpanzee.) It is not asnthough the French public wants thisnstuff. At the end of the summer, five ofnthe top six grossing movies were Americannor British. More than a millionnParisians had gone to see Rambo andnOut of Africa.nThe most popular film this pastnyear, however, with more than twonmillion Parisian entrees, more than sixnmillion in France as a whole, was anFrench movie which did not fit intonthe usual categories. Three Men and anCradle not only made the mostnmoney, drawing more than twice asnmany Parisians to see it as both of SlynStallone’s very popular movies, morenthan 2.5 times the nearest Frenchnmovie, it also won three Gesars, thenFrench Oscars, including Best FrenchnFilm, Best Supporting Actor, and BestnScript (written by director ColinenSerreau).nThe plot sounds ridiculous: Threenswinging bachelors get stuck with anbaby, and it turns their lives upsidendown. You can imagine for yourselvesnthe humorous situations. What youncannot tell without seeing the movie isnits fiercely moralistic polemic. Whennthe mother comes to take the babynback, the men return to their wild sexnlives, which no longer satisfy. In onenbrief but memorable scene, they arentrying to remember the name of tonight’sndate. What is her name? Ohnyes, it’s . . . the same as the baby’s.nThe embarrassed silence that follows isndeafening. The polemic cuts twonnnways. The mother tries to raise thenbaby apart from its irresponsible father,none of the three men. At the endnshe comes back, admitting that anwoman needs a man to raise a babynproperly.nIn the year that the French Rightnwon an absolute majority in the legislaturenand Socialist Frangois Mitterrandnchose the most conservativenFrench politician, Jacques Ghirac, asnthe new Prime Minister, the mostnimportant conservative news fromnFrance was Goline Serreau’s ThreenMen and a Cradle. Will America’snmovie producers take notice? Answer:nWalt Disney has flown Goline Serreaunto the USA to make an Americannversion.nThe masters of our popular entertainmentnclaim that sex and violencenare an essential part of the shows thatnthey send into our living rooms andntheaters. It sells. In the year of BillnGosby in America and Three Men innEurope, perplexities multiply.n—E. Christian KopffnAn eye accustomed to French culturenis bound to blink at least once when itsngaze is turned toward America. Thenblinking is bound to increase when thengaze focuses on American religion. Innspite of frequent blinking, a Frenchneye can often see deeply—in the spiritnof Alexis de Tocqueville—into religionnin America, taking in what a lazynAmerican eye overlooks.nPhilippe Delaroche is a Frenchmannand an editor of Les Editions Denoel.nWhile touring the United States lastnspring, he examined American culturenand religion with a sharp eye. WhennDelaroche reported on his visit in thenNational Catholic Register recentiy,nhe reached this startling conclusion:nAmerica is not a secular society—it isn