-perception, but that in no way mitigates the
blame that must attach to men for so carelessly overlooking for so long
the dichotomy between masculine and feminine perceptions.
Take, as an example, the late Charles Schulz's wonderful comic strip,
Peanuts.
We all loved Peanuts, right? We were all reading the same strips and we
were all laughing at them. If anything was a shared enthusiasm of men
and women, an example of gender interchangeability, it was that We All
Loved Peanuts (particularly in its hey-day in the 60s and 70s).
But, it occurs to me, that the masculine and feminine perceptions of the
strip were very, very different.
Men, I think, enjoyed the ridiculousness of the premise: a bunch of
six-year-old kids talking like adults. One of my favourite strips had
Schroeder coming out to the pitcher's mound where Charlie Brown says
something to him about how it's driving him crazy how badly the team is
playing. And Schroeder says, --Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly
upwards--. Charlie Brown, of course, asks, --What?-- And Linus comes out
to the pitcher's mound and says --It's from the Book of Job, it means .
. -- and suddenly all of the kids are out at the pitcher's mound
debating the Book of Job (with Lucy, of course, grousing, --What about
Job's wife? I don't think she gets enough credit!-- Job's wife, with her
immortal advice as to how Job might escape his ordeal: --Curse God and
die.--)
A nice balance, the ridiculousness of children talking about these adult
concerns with a little low-grade theology into the bargain.
But, I think for women, this was evidence that --finally, at least one
man ?gets? it.-- --Gets-- what? --At least one man understands that
children are adults and we should be treating them as adults.--
The --out of the mouths of ba
.
|
