I have a friend in Arizona who is the owner of several bichons, and has owned others who have passed on. None of them are, or were, named anything French. He and his wife not only enjoy the dogs, they have shown some of them, and one or two have achieved Champion status. I never thought of them as being in any way emasculating. (In fact, if you rang their doorbell, you'd hear them all excitedly charging at the door, which could easily intimidate some people!)