Dorothy L. Sayers, writer and scholar, in 1947:
The sentiment, "Man's love is of man's life a thing apart; 'tis woman's whole existence" is, in fact, a piece of male wishful thinking, which can only be made to come true by depriving the life of the leisured woman of every other practical and intellectual interest. Lovers, husbands, children, households - these are major feminine preoccupations: but not love. It is the male who looks upon amorous adventure as an end in itself, and dignifies it with a metaphysic. The great love-lyrics, the great love-tragedies, the romantic agony, the religion of beauty, the cult of the Ewig Weibliches, the entire mystique of sex is, in historic fact, of masculine invention.
Dorothy L. Sayers. Are Women Human? Penetrating, Sensible, and Witty Essays on the Role of Women in Society (Kindle Locations 22-26). Kindle Edition.
Sayers goes on to say that women have tended to be more practical. In my opinion, they have concentrated more on the living of life instead of the big questions and the fashioning of big answers. I think of that idea on Thanksgiving when the women are fashioning a giant meal for everyone while the men are watching football.
I thought of the idea again on Easter. Our front yard looked like this on Easter afternoon:
Not only was a fine meal made but the Easter Egg hunt was moved inside our house. Quite a lot of thought went into the eggs and the hiding:
Plastic or natural?
Candy or money?
Different colors for different hunters or free-for-all?
How many?
Much effort went into providing the same stuffing for the plastic eggs that were used to be sought by each hunter and into counting and recounting how many had coins, paper money, chocolate bunnies, and Reese's pieces chocolate eggs.
I guess Love = Effort.
--
Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
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