Woman - Woman Divine
Sunday, May 29, 2016
As photographs go these two here are compositional
disasters. In one of them Michelle Rene’s back is cut at the edge of frame. In
the other the crop of the knee and the leg is most questionable. I would not do
that now. And yet these two photographs which I looked at today show something
of a quality that seems to be hidden from most these days of supposed equality
between all the sexes (and by this I mean all the variations of the sexes as I
try to be modern and free of gender bias).
This quality is femininity. Only recently at an Arts
Umbrella performance my eldest granddaughter Rebecca who is 18 said, “It was
about time that a woman in dance would pick up a man.” And that is exactly what
happened. The performance was a modern dance piece. In ballet (as far as I
know) this would not happen.
Few might not know that ballet may be the last remnant of
male chauvinism (ditto the Argentine Tango and fly fishing). In ballet women
are always feminine (even if some of the men aren’t all that masculine). The
women have their hair up so that they may appear taller, more graceful and for
we who admire a female neck that is a good reason for the hair up. The feminine
side of me forces me to volunteer that a man with short hair and a powerful
neck can be attractive to me. That is the case. But little seems to be written
or be said that being masculine is anti-masculine – a sort of you cannot be a
feminist and be feminine. Whatever is the case, I hope I am not perceived as a
chauvinist pig who posts photographs of scantily clad women here. If I do this
it is because I feel that eating, sleeping (not reproducing as I am almost 74) and
delving on the erotic is what makes life a delight.
Being feminine at one time meant that the woman had to
feign not being independent or strong. The man opened the doors (and jam jars)
and never talked about feminine hygiene. Now the most frequent reason for a
cancellation of a woman for a photographic session is, “I have my period.”
At one time we ignorant men did not know about these
things. I wonder if we did not live in a rosy era where we knew that one plus
one was always two with no exception.
Now we live in a state of confusion but I still revel
that every once in a while femininity shows up for me to notice it, to enjoy it
and to wonder that indeed women are different from me not the same.
Mujer - Agustín Lara
Mujer,
mujer divina
tienes
el veneno que fascina en tu mirar.
mujer
alabastrina,
tienes
vibración de sonatina pasional,
tienes
el perfume de un naranjo en flor,
el
altivo porte de una majestad.
sabes de
los filtros que hay en el amor,
tienes
el hechizo de la liviandad,
La
divina magia de un atardecer,
y la
maravilla de la inspiración.
tienes
en el ritmo de tu ser,
todo el
palpitar de una canción.
eres la
razón de mi existir, mujer.
