Are Men Necessary?
I don't know . . . . Yes! Yes, they are.
Are Dowd's comments about what to wear, aired on Tim Russert's show, comments appealing to the most superficial and insecure elements of the female consumer demographic--are those necessary? No, they are not.
Non sequitur: Are kids necessary? To me they are. Today I met two who want to learn about the '60s. That struck me as funny and somehow hopeful. I wouldn't mind taking a course on the '60s.
Gerald Howard wrote a book about it. Another book, photog Lisa Law's "Flashing on the Sixties," includes a nice pic of Harrison Ford. He was was an expert cabinet maker, and every time I see him posing as an actor, I can't forget this fact. Anybody who can shape wood and do beautiful things with it (this includes tree appreciation) makes an impression on me.
But I digress.
Back to necessities. Is Thurber necessary? Yes. Dowd? Fairly predictable but all right: necessary. But couldn't the Times do a round-robin with her slot? There really are so few women columnists. Some of them even write sentences that can't be flung like confetti round the room at a drinks party. Maureen really is Soundbite Nation being broadcast from Media City.
I once wrote her a fan mail note telling her how her columns make me think but now that some years have passed, I realize I gave her too much credit. Still, they're entertaining, if predictable. I think a funny month would be one in which Dowd tackles a Higher Mind series of columns riffing on Levinas, Baudrillard, Spivak, Rorty, Chomsky, and Derrida. She could ask her good friend Leon Wieseltier to help.
Is Rorty necessary? Oh. Hmm. Well. Well, he *is* a man . . .
Are Dowd's comments about what to wear, aired on Tim Russert's show, comments appealing to the most superficial and insecure elements of the female consumer demographic--are those necessary? No, they are not.
Non sequitur: Are kids necessary? To me they are. Today I met two who want to learn about the '60s. That struck me as funny and somehow hopeful. I wouldn't mind taking a course on the '60s.
Gerald Howard wrote a book about it. Another book, photog Lisa Law's "Flashing on the Sixties," includes a nice pic of Harrison Ford. He was was an expert cabinet maker, and every time I see him posing as an actor, I can't forget this fact. Anybody who can shape wood and do beautiful things with it (this includes tree appreciation) makes an impression on me.
But I digress.
Back to necessities. Is Thurber necessary? Yes. Dowd? Fairly predictable but all right: necessary. But couldn't the Times do a round-robin with her slot? There really are so few women columnists. Some of them even write sentences that can't be flung like confetti round the room at a drinks party. Maureen really is Soundbite Nation being broadcast from Media City.
I once wrote her a fan mail note telling her how her columns make me think but now that some years have passed, I realize I gave her too much credit. Still, they're entertaining, if predictable. I think a funny month would be one in which Dowd tackles a Higher Mind series of columns riffing on Levinas, Baudrillard, Spivak, Rorty, Chomsky, and Derrida. She could ask her good friend Leon Wieseltier to help.
Is Rorty necessary? Oh. Hmm. Well. Well, he *is* a man . . .
posted by Elizabeth Manus at 1:15 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home