Last night, I watched a parade of women for three hours. There was a benefit for the local family crisis center and artists of various kinds were in a large conference room in a big motel. Women vendors and women customers with every 121st person a man. As you know, I have never been a woman but I have learned that women's bodies are important to them and to men, perhaps more than they should be. During the time, I sat and gazed, I saw women of all shapes and sizes. I realize that there were few women of other groups and that women of "white" skins were the majority.
I was once under the impression that men competed and women did not but now I think that was too simplistic. Men do cooperate and can do so very well and women do compete, at times and in ways not always evident to me. For instance, I saw women greet effusively and once in a while, I think I detected a contest waged in feminine sensitivity and emoting. It was pretty clear that "Honey, I can out-emote you any day of the week. It is futile to try to be more emotional, responsive and demonstrative than me."
I grasp that when you see a former college classmate or bridge partner that you always liked but haven't seen for a decade, you just have to explode in honest joy. But that one woman, the one who always thought she was better than you, with her, one gets one's challenge up. Whatever she is selling or whatever she has just purchased, the thing with her is to bubble over with being impressed at her taste, at her luck, at her stuff.
I have heard that "yes, Fred Astaire was very good but Ginger Rogers did it all backwards and in high heels." I saw that many women are shedding some of the burden of hair-dos and living with simpler haircuts and wearing more comfortable shoes. But I still suspect that from about 4 years of age on, men don't really experience the care and planning involved in cosmetics, hair care, dress, jewelry and nails that your typical business woman engages in before getting down to business. I wonder if women have a couple more hours in their day.
