Are there age limits to being a frau?

Do they still make Laura Ashley?

Does she wear Laura Ashley, if so?

Rating for this one:

-100/100

what does "ships" mean?

the shipping is a bad sign :((

Shipping means she's a fan of two male characters on TV, but she follows or 'ships' them as being in a fictionalized gay relationship.

if she ships Outlander or Supernatural, call it a day honey.

I thought fraus had to be middle aged.

Just introduce to Sam Heughan and DL, and you'll never have to worry about her or see her again.

Nope, she's just training to be a crazy cat lady

There aren't age limits. There aren't even gender limits. There are quite a few male fraus around, too.

You have to have kids to be a frau.

So what's a frau without kids? Just a spinster?

You just know her Tumblr bio runs thus:

[quote] Cat mom. Student. Culinary artist. Writer. Fangirl. I read SF/fantasy, classics, poetry, fanfic and books about cats. I listen to all music, but my nostalgia playlist is strictly showtunes. Things I like include, but are not limited to: all things Supernatural, shoujo/shonen anime, superhero movies (I'm a Marvel girl!), web comics, vintage sci-fi/fantasy shows (Whedon is my GOD), cosplay, tattoos, dancing to Nicki Minaj, Diet Coke, and snuggly pajamas. I have two liberal arts degrees, but don't tell anyone.

I don't think baking and especially sewing are frau activities besides the fact they are traditionally associated with women at home, which doesn't really mean anything. It should have to do with what they like to bake (something like kitty litter cake) or sew (a Kincaid Christmas pillow). Someone who makes cool clothes or alters them isn't necessarily a frau because of that, but maybe those would be exceptions anyway.

This is not at all Frau behavior. A Frau is family-centric. Her family defines who she is. An office Frau tries to create a family dynamic among her coworkers. She has holiday outfits and usually organizes the various cake parties, potlucks, outings and any reason to celebrate.

OP, it sounds like your cousin is more in danger of becoming Frederica Bimmel. And what about this gay friend of hers? Does he sew, too? Have you caught him measuring her hips and waist lately?

r15's definition is what I think of when I hear "frau."

She's not a Frau. She's an incurable Nerd.

Lush frau.

Frau is not an age or gender - it’s a state of mind and a way of life.

She's a Fraulein, or Frau in training.

The OP obviously has a lot of time on his hands. Maybe he should take up a hobby, like scrapbooking, or something. I think it would do him good.

Does she refer to her cats as her fur babies and sew little sweaters for them? If so, she is a frau.

Aktuwelly, I appreciate OP's asking. I had a sense of the range of the whole Frau spectrum from context but didn't get the concept of "shippers" at all until now. So thank you.

She seems like she's more aggressively normcore, but will gradually allow it to consume her whole personality and then blossom into fraudom.

Full frau. There is no turning back.

Jesus, R13. That was brutal but perfectly accurate.

Does she *LIVE* for Yankee Candles!?

Depends what she ships.

No, fraus are all about their children and their special needs and wonderfulness and about their Dear Hubbykins. Your cousin is just a fangirl.

You don’t need to have kids to be a frau. R13 is horribly scary but quite accurate. Shippers are very delusional and probably responsible for the Sam Heughan thread here which never goes away. I knew one who had seen “a real ghost” in college in her dorm bed. She didn’t know why it was a ghost and didn’t do much but stand around. Then the “ghost” went away.(?)

R15 has it right. And fraus are usually mean spirited. The girl OP describes sounds sweet and corny.

We need a Venn diagram to illustrate that 'dorky awkward spinster' and 'frau' are distinctive and barely relate.

A frau does not crush on celebrity men as she has her DH and wouldn't DREAM of "emotionally cheating" on him, and she has no time for creative hobbies or participating in something fun and peer-led like fandom as her precious spawn eat up all her time. A frau will also disdain pets in the house ("the extra maid bills! the allergy triggers! my soft furnishings! what about my KIDS?!"). A frau wouldn't read classics much less poetry (but maybe trashy paperbacks or celebrity autobios), and probably has extremely limited taste in things like music and film (probably taking her cues from her cube-friends). Most garden-variety frauen haven't any further education than a community college diploma, and defer all decision-making and "hard" tasks requiring intellect (like finances) to their DH. They lack the introspective and curious traits necessary to appreciate contemporary art/fashion a la Tumblrinas, and likely can't even wrap their minds around conceptual commercial/genre works like anything sci-fi. Their cooking is unadventurous and they can't use their technology properly so their kids have to set it up for them and teach them how to get/use apps. Many do like musical theater, though.

The overlap between the circles on the Venn should contain 'sweat/yoga pants worn for purposes other than working out', 'humble-bragging for kudos in circlejerk conversations', 'neurosis', 'diet drinks' and of course 'mug-cradling' (although the student/Millennial manner of mug-cradling is different to the frau way).

I love R33 😂

R33 is on the money. I live in Frauville and the OP's cousin sounds way too creative and fun. Fraus only do things that other fraus approve of and I'm fairly sure fantasizing about hot men having sex with each other would be on the no list.

Agree with r33 except for the "creative pursuits." A true Frau is dedicated to her Pinterest pages and works hard at her tablescapes, kids projects, holiday (and really almost every day is a holiday in Frauville) baking and crafts, and staging the perfect FB and Insta photos and stories.

A Frau may have a celeb crush but never anything hardcore fandom, with the possible exception of her movie star girl crush on Julia Roberts.

Your cousin sounds cool. Does she live in LA? I’d hang with her. We could knit sweaters for our cats together.

Maybe she suffers from social anxiety. Why don’t you invite her places since you’re so concerned and well adjusted

Are we confusing cat ladies with fraus? I thought they were two different species.

Frau is a state of mind.

A child is not a frau. Frauhood is attained as a lifelong adult characteristic. Destiny if you will.

Yes OP you're cousin is entering frauhood. It's a new mutation we've been seeing called the millennial frau. Precocious fraus like your cousin start early but all last into middle age. After 65 a frau starts transitioning to her next stage of development and becomes a full functioning crone by the time she's 70.

Hope this helps.

Are there fraus from other countries? Or is frau an American-only phenomena?

Fräulein

[quote]I thought fraus had to be middle aged.

Well, that's why OP is asking.

R42, Canada has fraus, too. The word derives from Germany.

Middle-aged women are peak fraus. So most fraus are Gen X women right now.

Frau in training. It’s like Junior lifeguard training, or ROTC classes in high school.

If OP's cousin ships those Supernatural guys, I would say it is a red flag. If she is shipping Twilight movie characters in 2018 that may be a little odd, but if she is shipping Robsten in 2018 and thinks they are a real couple, then you need to stage a family intervention, one of her cats may have given her toxoplasmosis.

I usually ship USPS.

Your niece reminds me of a few women I work with. All under 40..ship Hetero characters, love making jewelry, or paper crafting, read manga and watch anime, knit (scarves and hats). Talk about recipes all day. They discuss their real and imagined illnesses ad nauseum. All single, some live with parents. Pretty sure most, if not all, are virgins.

The one thing they don't have are CATS. "Allergies" and "migraines" --all of them.

Do fraus believe in a Live Love Laugh lifestyle or that's a different category?

It’s important to distinguish between fraus, cat ladies and fag hags.

All of them can suffer from fibromyalgia, but only fag hags have gay best friends.

Fraus are basic bitches who get married.

Can a woman be a fag hag if she only has one gay male friend though?

Yes, R53, if he’s her BEST friend.

She may also suffer from the dreaded curse of the pink wand - and have fallen in love with him.

Girl needs to get on Tinder.

[quote] No, fraus are all about their children and their special needs and wonderfulness and about their Dear Hubbykins.

Sounds just like Kate Middleton!

I'm still not getting this whole 'ships' thing.

R57 imagining two hot guys boning.

Oh, I do every day, R57. But what does a frau have to do with that? Does she imagine two hot guys boning? Is that even considered an activity?

I might have to update the 'skills' portion of my resume.

And then create artwork/fan fiction of same

Live Love Laugh is a slightly different lifestyle, R50.

R33 and r36 are scarily accurate. OP, I know someone exactly like your niece and she met a nice dorky guy in one of her geek forums and they're happily married. She's a nice young kid and not very Frau-y, so there's hope for your niece.

R59 Shipper fraus fantasize about the two brothers in “Supernatural” boning and then write sleazy stories about that.

Definitely gonna be a frau, OP

Does she aspire to work in HR? If so she is a Frau. All Human Resource directors I have met through the years have been mean frumpy Fraus. ALL OF THEM. Including 2 who were gay men.

R19: Nooo, I never thought I’d see her on DL!

lol R65