Questions go along with this challenge. Yesterday’s was why am I doing this Challenge? I wanted to push myself back to blogging on a regular basis. As I was planning my blogs I realized I also wanted to examine some issues that had been bothering me for a long time. Which led to today’s question: Tell something that’s important to me. The long term ongoing negative treatment of the female of ours species is a major issue for me. As I mentioned yesterday I was raised in an era of automatic male superiority, not to mention jobs divided by gender. Women cooked and cleaned. Men cut grass and worked outside. I really, really wanted to mow the lawn.
Continuing on my quest to demolish songs I thought I loved. Let’s look at Red Roses for a Blue Lady. Kinda schmaltzy but still seems sweet. Until we look at the lyrics. The crooning male is asking the florist to wrap up some red roses, since his girlfriend is sad (blue lady.) They had a “silly” quarrel and he’s hoping the flowers will make her less unhappy.
Who decided that quarrel was silly? The man? If the disagreement is profound enough to make her so unhappy she tells him to go away and leave her alone, then there is generally something serious going on. Yes, arguments can be trivial but there is generally some underlying factor. The man is hoping those pretty flowers take her blues away. Does he think if he throws some flowers at her she’ll go all googly eyed and forget whatever it was they were arguing about?
Oh, that’s right. It was a ‘silly’ quarrel.
Hey, mister. Have you ever thought about, just maybe, TALKING to her? Maybe trying to understand why she might be upset? Or do you have the standard belief system of a male at that time? From the lovely musical Camelot: “Never be too disturbed if you don’t know what a woman is thinking. They don’t do it very often.” (Merlyn talking to Arthur, in the song “How to Handle a Woman”)
Really? In 1960, we’re told women don’t think very often. Well no wonder that man thought some dead flowers would convince ‘the sweetest girl in town’ to get over herself and marry him.
My husband generally bought me rose plants. They lasted longer
Tomorrow’s question: Tell us about something that you think should be improved
Hoo Boy
Mona Karel Author 