"Flâneuse": More About Women Than Walking

The first chapter of "Flâneuse," a recent book by Lauren Elkin, makes a case that women can, or at least should be able to, enjoy an activity traditionally associated with a certain type of man: walking about a city more or less aimlessly, soaking up its serendipitous sights, sounds, aromas and pleasures. In short, becoming a connoisseur of the urban experience.

The original term, flâneur, apparently dates back to 16th or 17th century France, but wasn't widely referenced until the 19th century when it became principally associated with a description of such activity by the French poet Charles Baudelaire.