One of the dividing lines between Modern Women and Cultural Creatives is their interest and willingness to take on unglamorous topics like violence against women.

Smart Sensuality women up the ante even further on subjects like rape and sexual violence, because they are women who are often ‘sexy’ themselves by ‘prevailing’ social standards (recognizing that this changes from culture to culture).

Like Michelle Obama, Carla Bruni continues to define her public persona in her own terms. I sense that most Parisians today would agree that the Carla they ‘know’ and the Carla they ‘inherited’ as French President Sarkosy’s new wife, are two different women.

Rama Yade in Bangkok, Mar 12, 2009 AFPThe London Times reports that Carla Bruni Sarkozy has joined forces with one of France’s most popular ministers, human rights secretary Rama Yade, to highlight the horrific scourge of sexual violence in Africa by armed gangs, accused of making rape a ‘weapon of war’.

In a moment that frustrates the heck out of human rights activists, who can fairly accuse the Sarkozy administration of hypocrisy around this topic: the French president (last week) signed mining contracts with a government whose troops have been accused of widespread abuses of human rights, including mass rape. Bruni was the guest of honour at a soirée in Paris in defence of the victims.

Life’s ‘grey matter’ is always getting in the way of black and white, right and wrong topics. In a similar conundrum, Hillary Clinton refused to confront Chinese officials on human rights issues, when the Obama administration (and the entire country) is holding their breath that China doesn’t sour on its American debt holdings.

In a side bar story to the rape victims, Bruni’s very public support of Rama Yade, signals a return to Sarkozy-favor for the popular, 32 year old minister with high ratings among the French public.

Yade irritated Sarkozy, by refusing to resign from office to carry the French flag in the European elections. She was rebuked by Sarkozy for saying “Muammar Gadaffi, the Libyan leader who visited Paris in 2007, should not be allowed to use France as “a doormat on which to wipe the blood of his crimes off his feet”. The public seemed to approve of her defiance, however: her popularity began to soar.”

It’s worth noting that in France, Yade is called an “Obamette”.

As Smart Sensuality women, both Bruni and Rama Yade are willing to take on unpopular, dicey topics, using their popularity — and dare I write ‘charm, good looks, charisma …their ‘personal attributes’ … to advance critical humanitarian issues.

Smart Sensuality women leverage themselves to get the job done. They know when to put their foot to the pedal and when to coast for awhile.

Much of their playbook is ‘instinctive’, not rational or written up under the “20 Rules for Being a Success in Life”.

Our Redtracker radar will follow them, wherever the road takes us … the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Life is never perfect. And neither are Smart Sensuality women. Life is very, very messy Anne