In a recent Sunday Times Magazine there were some very indiscreet pictures of young men photographed in poses usually reserved for the younger woman (bum pointing blatantly towards the camera, see The Avengers; or legs pointing upwards as if trying to change a lightbulb with your toes). Far from being amused by this article, I was pretty disturbed by it. Not because it would be awful for a male to have to strike the pose of a female, but at how women, and I talk here about models mainly, are being groomed into looking like young boys or girls: no chest, no hair, no fat, just bone.
This is not right. In fact, it's pretty bloody sickly that we have a fashion industry that seems to choose models based on how young they look and how skinny. Especially when stories like Jimmy Saville's come to light. Isn't it hypocritical of us as a nation to cry foul when a man is caught with an under age girl and then go ask us to appreciate photos of eighteen year old boys and girls who are trying to appear younger.
Far from it being a natural need to appear and yearn for youth, I think what we actually want is someone to take the rest of the world seriously and admit that yes, (shock, horror) we do get older and we do get fatter. Is that such a crime?
Here is a woman who has found adulation with Mad Men and suddenly, the size that was once a reason for her to be turned away is now a reason for her to be hired.
When you look back at the movies of the fifties and the sixties, women were curvaceous; they had character. The women of the forties had guts; they had three-dimensional characteristics. When did a woman turn into a stick-thin side-show where men can fondle them or make lewd comments about them.
I could just see Christina Hendricks being cast in a movie from the forties or fifties, she has that charisma and that attitude. She also has that wonderful curve that feminises her and yet, especially nowadays, gives her a power. She seems to be so at ease with herself, so confident. I'm sure it has not always been that way, we are, after all, all human beings who have good days and bad days; but I think she can do a lot for women in the movie and fashion industry. Please let's us have women who are bold and who are WOMEN. Not lady-boys!
She is also a terrific actress and deserves all the plaudits that she receives. Plus the fact that she has a beautiful face and delicate skin, yes, perhaps women should hate her too!
********************************************************
I am currently reading a book by Syd Moore called Witch Hunt, about a journalist who is trying to uncover a story about a witch-hunter and the awful tragedies in Essex, which may have led to the terrible witch-hunts that took place in England and the USA. This is a really great book, neatly written and with a smart central character. Again, this shows how women have been treated over the years and I ask how the male population could have got away with it for so long. Was it fear of God? Was it strength? The church held too much power and in a good old Christian way the women was cast aside as the scapegoat for all that was wrong in the world. I wonder of the leaders in those days actually wondered how the human race were to survive without women to pro-create for them, or was that a question that never popped up while they decided to make them second-class citizens!
Women: I find you all extremely interesting; intelligent; wonderful; alluring; enticing and funny. I like to think all of us are equal and it is our duty, together, to raise the next generation to go one step further. Let's eat, drink and be merry, without sex getting in the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment