I have said I’m prepared to write at any time (But not at the drop of a hat: I don’t do clichés) and am never short of subjects. If all else fails I recycle my thoughts. As a last resort, other people’s thoughts.
But am I willing to write about anything? Are there forbidden subjects?
One springs to mind and that’s feminism. I would support feminism with my last breath but I’ve reluctantly concluded that my most useful contribution to this noble cause is silence. Why? I get feminism’s grammar, syntax and vocabulary wrong and from these errors some women have inferred I’m anti-feminist. Perhaps these critics are right; that these errors tell the truth about me. That I’m merely a self-appointed fan and my efforts aren’t worth a damn. Even if it doesn’t feel like that inside. Trouble is silence may be interpreted as support for the lads and morons. Tough.
I cannot write about warm milk. There’s this feeling of… ugh.
Oscar Wilde was asked if a certain book or literary passage was obscene (ie, does it tend to corrupt?). He replied, “It’s worse than that; it’s badly written.” Look, I’ve read Dan Brown, James Patterson, Jeffrey Archer and concluded I won’t read any more of their stuff. That’s it. Occasionally I make a snide reference but it’s purely accidental. Fish in a barrel – see what I mean about snide?
I’m an atheist yet I subscribe to T. S. Eliot’s observation: “Britain is predominantly irreligious but Brits are fascinated by those who are religious.” I try, but frequently fail, to avoid treating religion as a subject for argument.
I have my dislikes: Gamay grape wine, soccer fans facing the camera, easily verifiable lies of some politicians, many forms of patriotism. These are fair game
I think of you as a feminist. The thing is, male feminists do best when they say the least about it, actions speaking louder than words. But you can get away with saying whatever you like via a blog post. Why do you hate it when soccer fans face the camera?
ReplyDeleteColette: I can't think of a judgment I'd value more. Thanks for that.
DeleteAs to soccer fans in front of cameras. Technically we are all born with the potential to be thinking individuals but not all take advantage of this. I hate it when groups of people dress up foolishly before some sporting encounter and then act like herds of low-grade animals (say three-toed sloths but rather more animated), gurning and uttering inarticulate noises instead of speaking, all for a TV cameraman intent on capturing pre-game "atmosphere".
During the subsequent game these same people are prone to shout such recommendations as "Kill the ref." They may not mean it, literally, but in a sense what has happened is even worse. They have become grains of sand in a huge undifferentiated dune. Open to influence from greater forces.
In the mid-seventeenth century the French mathematician/philosopher René Descartes expressed the principle Cogito ergo sum (I believe he actually expressed it in French, thus: Je pense donc je suis) Which is: "I think therefore I am".For the sub-human soccer fan, it is as if Descartes had never lived.
"Gurning" is an excellent word and I'm happy to know it now. I'm delighted that facial distortion has it's own word - I'll never have to struggle to describe it again.
Delete"They have become grains of sand in a huge undifferentiated dune." How wonderful, it stood out to me from your whole post.
ReplyDeleteI have always thought of you as a feminist. So, I hope, am I. I would say that one should treat all humans, male and female in the same way, but that would preclude a certain difference of gentleness and courtesy towards the female sex.
Some might even say that I, too, have got it wrong in that last phrase. It can be a ticklish subject. As a boy I was taught to offer my seat to a female in crowded conditions, but some of the sex would take that as denigration now.
Better to keep silent about it all as you say, but treat all living things with kindness.
Avus: Being even-handed to everyone is a problem especially if, like me, one was brought up so lomg ago and in one of the cities of the industrial heartland in the North. In childhood and early adolescence I was so absorbent to atmosphere, environment and the behaviour of adults. So much to unlearn in later life.
DeleteCertainly moving to London, aged twenty-four, was an important first step. There I found myself in a more egalitarian society and I think I can say that journalism was slightly less gender-distinctive than other forms of work. Membership of a trade union also helped.
I well remember the first time I was rapped over the knuckles for my old-fashioned views. A woman of about my age, working in the graphic arts department, calmly corrected me and left me utterly astonished. These were matters I had never even knew existed. My first inkling, too, of the importance of language; how one gave oneself away so easily with the first few words.
Much much later a curious thing happened. Beth, whom I'd got to know via the blog, announced she intended to publish a collection of poetry about the Annunciation. At the time I was receiving guidance about poetry from Joe and Lucy and with all the misguided confidence of an absolute beginner I toyed with contributing a piece. Imagining I could write poetry acceptable to a much wider audience was ridiculous enough. But the Annunciation, I ask you! Me, with my views.
But I had this view of Mary which was clear to me and the words seemed to arrive. Here are the first two verses:
A table, sturdy, quite a craftsman’s job,
Supports a cruse of oil in which a flame,
Gutters an orange glow which circulates
Uncertain circles on the heat-baked floor.
Light to inform the evening’s minor tasks
A rest from daytime’s harder labouring,
More fit for finer fingers and an eye
That understands the lines of warp and woof
Beth accepted it and you might say I was transfixed. But there was more. What Beth hadn't made clear was that the contributers to the book would all be women. I would be the male exception. Leaving me with mixed feelings to say the least. Ever since, and somewhat tangentiallly I've felt I owed feminism a debt. Thus I remain silent.
In the brief time that I have known you, I would not have thought of you as anything but a feminist. Actions are what count, attitudes are clear, words can sometimes give the wrong impression, even for a master wordsmith such as yourself. I have learned that irony is often hard to convey in an email, and that what might be deemed bons mots In animated conversation can seem quite snide in a rapidly dashed off message. I should add that I concur completely with you analysis of soccer fans. Substitute hockey fans (idiots) here, though.
ReplyDeleteAnd obviously one should pay closer attention before publishing a comment!
ReplyDeleteDMG: Pleased about that. Thanks.
DeleteSuggestions that I might be anti-feminist were hard to take, especially given the more recent novels I had written. I'd written one or two while I was still working but they were casual, off-the-cuff affairs, definitely curate's eggs. I decided to take novel writing seriously about a dozen years ago, well into retirement.
My first such novel sought to explore the way work informs our character. I started with a male production engineer made redundant and who discovers his other self in an entirely different profession. To avoid risking monotony I intertwined his story with that of a woman at a high level in the IT industry whose life also undergoes radical change. As the novel progressed I found I could write more freely and - importantly - more inventively about the woman. Three novels followed, all of them with women as the central characters.
I wasn't attempting to preach feminism, rather to set women as accurately as possible in various work environments. I have to confess I developed a deep affection for these characters who seemed to take over from me and run their lives in what I hoped were non-male directions. Clare, Jana, Judith and Francine - in each case I was sorry when I reached the end of my involvement with them. They triumphed and they suffered - certainly they informed me. But they were never mine, they were themselves.
I'd like to say I wrote about them sympathetically but that's a claim I can't make. However I hope I can say, with some sincerity, I supported them from a position in the background. Which is where writer should be.