My wife took a day off work today to go and see her mum, who, as I've mentioned before, isn't very well at all. She would've liked to have gone for longer, with me being off this week and able to look after my daughter, but today was the only day she could take, as it turned out. This meant a long day trip for her, more typical of the sort of thing I'm prone to do, by train to the Midlands and back. She needed to catch a train at 7:25, so we had to leave the house before 7:00 to get to the station in time, which led to the first example of a not particularly pleasant task for this autumn/winter - scraping the frost from the windows of the car. We don't ordinarily get as much wintry weather in Cornwall as many parts of the UK, so to be de-icing the car in October is something of a surprise - I hope it doesn't turn out to be the harbinger of another cold winter like the last was.
I came across something on the internet today which, if it had been April 1, I would've taken to be a spoof. It was a YouTube style video of an item from an American TV show, apparently giving parents advice on how to make an 'effeminate' son more masculine. Their suggestion for a suitable Halloween costume for such a boy (modelled by a kid of about 7) was a combat-style outfit, accompanied by a huge replica gun, reminiscent of an AK-47, to occupy his hands so he couldn't 'clap and squeal'. Given that the US is awash with real guns, given the constitutional right to bear arms, if a 'trick or treater' turned up at a house dressed like that, they'd probably end up getting shot. Maybe it was a spoof, and I'm taking it all too seriously, but given the prevalence of homophobia in the US and the UK, I wouldn't be at all surprised if such 'advice' would be both dispensed to and readily accepted by paranoiac parents. If I had the choice between a gay son (or daughter for that matter) and a small child toting enormous toy guns, I have no doubt where my preference would lie, but no doubt the 'right thinkers' would say that such a reaction on my part is completely predictable. Given the irrationality, if not outright madness of so much of contemporary life, I sometimes feel that my 'liberal' instincts are heading towards 'voice in the wilderness' status. It's all decidedly depressing, I'm afraid.
Love & best wishes to all
Sammy B
Hi there, Sammy
ReplyDeleteIt was frosty here this morning, and we look set for another dose tomorrow, judging by tonight's clear skies - but that's nothing unusual for Cambridge in late October. It's rather more of a surprise for Cornwall at this time of year, as you say - I would expect rain and gales, but not frost!
As for the Halloween costume, and the mentality behind it, I don't think it's as bad as you fear. Yes, there are parts of the US, and even of the UK, where people would still wholeheartedly embrace that frame of mind, but I think things are, little by little, getting better.
Take care
Mark
Hello Mark
ReplyDeleteWe've returned to type, weather-wise, this morning - it's proper Cornish rain for us again today!
I read another interesting article yesterday (albeit a rather old one) which might throw another little sidelight on the ethos of how boys are raised - the gist of it was that governments have a vested interest in suppressing any tendency boys might have towards loving behaviour so that their instincts can be channelled into aggression instead, to make that there's a ready pool of people willing and able to go and fight wars, keep civil order, etc. Perhaps that's a somewhat paranoid and cynical view of society, but it struck me as having a degree of psychological, if not literal truth.
Love & best wishes
Sammy B