In a time of curated perfection and carefully edited images, comedian and actress Dawn French is taking a refreshing candid approach to embracing all her “faux pas” and “stupid decisions” through her upcoming memoir The Twat Files.
French announced her latest project with a video posted on her Instagram account, shedding light on its inspiration and what readers can expect to find within its pages.
“Now, look, I’m known for a few things, aren’t I? I’m known for asking about titting about, of course, and funnying about something I’m not known for, if we’re honest, is perfection,” the 65-year-old says at the start of her video.
“And so I’ve decided to write new book called The Twat Files. And in this book, I am documenting all the times in my life that I have been so far from perfect. In fact, all the times that I’ve been an utter twat.
“And there are many, many, many examples, more than I ever thought, alarming amount of times that I have made faux pas, mistakes, stupid decisions and got things very, very wrong,” Frenchh continues.
“But look, the fact is that I’m sort of butting against being perfect, having filters and perfect angles.
“I’m saying let’s be flawed. Let’s celebrate the flaws and all the mistakes we’ve made. Let’s wear them like medals across our ample bosom.”
French’s announcement stirred a wave of excitement among her fans, who wasted no time flooding the comment section of her videos with expressions of joy and anticipation.
“The world SO needs people like you, darling Dawn French!!!”
“Imperfection is perfection to me, can’t wait to read it!”
“My inner twat is so ready to meet yours. I cannot wait for this book. This is WHAT WE NEED!!!!! Love you.”
“I love this Dawn, from someone who comes from a large family full of different personalities I thank you for putting things into perspective. I can’t wait to read ‘The twat files.'”
This isn’t the first time French has shared her thoughts on the burdens of perfection and societal expectations.
Last year, while appearing on the Joe Black Meets podcast, French said she doesn’t get modern beauty trends and that current beauty standards of “impossible” perfection have “buggered” women’s chance for equality.
The Vicar of Dibley star said the need for fake lips, “orange skin” and “Kardashian [body] shapes” makes her concerned for her daughters and other young girls who are under pressure to look flawless.
“I cannot entirely love perfect people. I cannot understand why people only want to show us [how perfect they are],” she said.
“It makes me sad actually, especially with young people. I feel for my own daughter and Jennifer’s [Saunders] daughters – and all the daughters – feeling like they’ve got to have the big lips and they’ve got to be orange and that they’ve got to have lashes on all the time.
“And that they’ve got to have Kardashian shapes. Impossible stuff. Whereas their flawed real beauty is just heavenly – it’s bliss. It’s bliss. I would love us to creep back to that.
“And after all the fights women have had to be anywhere near equal [to men]. We’ve kind of gone and buggered it all up at the last minute by becoming Jessica Rabbits.”
French’s upcoming memoir The Twat Files will be available for purchase on October 12, 2023.