japonisme: don't call me rosie!

11 September 2011

don't call me rosie!

why are we always flowers? my love is like a red red rose. no she's not. a rose is a rose, and she is a person. she will not wilt within a week. she will not lose her color, turn brown, and dry out. and you know that if she does, max factor will have the solution she's looking for.

but since she is actually a living human, why should she? why is it so important to keep the appearances: colors, glows, silken-like qualities of youth? because why are women here but to reproduce.

no, i don't believe that, even if it's true. it's just that the older i get, the more a biological determinist i seem to get. to not be living your life as a woman whose main goal is to family and reproduce, is to consciously depart from your genes.

and face social retribution when you do. though defining one's self should be everyone's own private prerogative, it simply is not. each individual is a part of a larger social animal, and it is that animal's job to mind the bits and pieces. anyone who might question, or cause another to question, is a "Bad Influence." (maybe even mentally ill)

why must jennifer lopez be seen in a different outfit every week when she judges american idol? even i feel that pressure, even if i'm just going to the store. is it true, as i tell myself, that i just can't stand repetition, or something else, something much darker and inbred?

and we are not allowed to do anything that marks us as uninterested in reproducing. how often will you see an ad on tv telling you that you look beautiful in white hair, why change it? and in fact, where does it say that you needn't be beautiful?

i admit it, i'm
the odd one out. asperger's gives one distance. if you don't "get" the rules, you are more likely to notice their forms. but that does not invalidate my questions. is there a future role for women in which to be called a red, red rose would be an insult?

at one point,
will we be free enough to live without expectations? or are the expectations a necessity if our species is to survive? like sand through an hourglass, an individual life passes along its genes and then moves on. anyone who wants to stop it can must pay the price. and all this goes on beyond our ken and beyond our reach.


until someone reaches out to pluck that flower.

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8 Comments:

Anonymous evan said...

rules, regulations, biological imperatives disguised as a cultural more, aspergers, having personality types (I'm an "inspector"), the basic convention of free will & being able to think for ones self, some sense that everything we do has consequences, good or bad. Beauty is only skin deep yet 90% of advertising is aimed at maintaining our surface selves. Sad/funny that we live in a culture that tells us to strive for individuality (after-all, even the Army sloganeers say "Be all YOU can be", "Be an Army of one", not conform & fall in line...but as soon as we strive for individuality, the message we get is don't disappoint, conform, do what's expected of you. As my father used to say, You want to be an artist- that's fine, but when are you going to get a real job?
The bloom is off the rose- but maybe that's a good thing...now we see the plant for what it is- thorns & all

12 September, 2011 10:44  
Blogger lotusgreen said...

an inspector?

i always appreciate that you really seem to get what i'm trying to say, and then add your own perspective on top of it.

my mom *always* threw out 'to thine own self be true,' but didn't really mean it for a minute.

12 September, 2011 12:13  
Anonymous evan said...

Inspector- it's from the Jung Briggs-Myer typology test...

13 September, 2011 09:55  
Blogger lotusgreen said...

oh yeah-- i took that once

13 September, 2011 12:28  
Blogger Nancy Ewart said...

Unfortunately for independent thinkers like us, the ones who reproduce- mostly fundamentalist religious types - are setting the philosophical terms for the future. In those religions (both Christian and Muslim), women are subordinate and have no say over their bodies, much less how they are referred to. I intend to enjoy this brief period of female independence because I suspect that it's not going to exist in the future. Those of us women who can and do follow our own drummer are an endangered species.

13 September, 2011 18:43  
Blogger lotusgreen said...

oh my lord -- shades of The Handmaid's Tale.

13 September, 2011 19:30  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I come from a small town in a rural area where most of the girls I gradauted high school with are already married or pregnant at only 19 years of age. Most people frowned upon my moving away and descion to go to college without a man. Every day I look for new inspiration to carry on with my dreams, this is a beautiful piece that will stick with me. Thank you.

15 September, 2011 11:11  
Blogger lotusgreen said...

you have toched my heart deeper than you can know. i wish you all the courage and pleasure you can stand.

15 September, 2011 16:15  

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hi, and thanks so much for stopping by. i spend all too much time thinking my own thoughts about this stuff, so please tell me yours. i thrive on the exchange!

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