Category Archives: status of women
SIZZLE by Gary Smolker
A Controversy
This morning a friend (Richard Gibson) asked me what I have been doing.
I told Richard, “I have created a game called SIZZLE by Gary Smolker“. It is a mind-game about the status of women.
Richard then asked me, “What kind of game is that?”
I answered, “A discussion game. I pose the topic ‘the status of women’ then tell what I think is the role and status of women then other people discuss that.”
Richard was alarmed. Richard told/advised me with alarm, “That is too controversial!”
I replied, “I am going to post SIZZLE by Gary Smolker on the Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange blog for people who use the Internet to ‘play.’
Richard replied, “Okay. I will go to your funeral and give an eulogy.”
My game topic – the role of women – and my creation of the game SIZZLE by Gary Smolker is my reaction to seeing a table consisting of a woman on her knees supporting a clear table top on her back in the TV room of an extremely wealthy man.
Below is a photograph of the table that drove me to create the game SIZZLE by Gary Smolker .
That table is the only table in the TV room of a very wealthy man’s home.
Upon seeing that table, I wondered,
- What kind of artist would create a table like that?
- What is the message the artist is presenting? What does the artist who created that table want people who see that table to think and/or to think about?
- What type of art collect would purchase such a table and put it as a functioning piece of furniture in his home?
- What message, if any, is the collector presenting by placing that table in his TV room?
- What does that table say about the role of women in society?
- What does that table say about people’s/a society’s view of women and the role of women in society?
- What does that table say about women’s view of the role of women in society?
- What is the role of women in society today?
- What is the state of sexuality in contemporary culture?
I invite you to play SIZZLE by Gary Smolker by telling me and/or the world at large your thoughts about the status and role of women in society?
What are your thoughts on sexuality in contemporary culture?
What are your thoughts on eroticism?
You are invited to play my mind game SIZZLE by Gary Smolker by posting your comments on any of those topics directly on this blog post, or by sending me your personal comment/reply directly to me at GSmolker@aol.com.
Your answer to the above questions will be a reflection of whether or not you are hip, of your “hip quotient” on women and gender issues of the day.
The house in which I saw that table is a museum open at no charge to the public by appointment.
The museum is owned by a foundation (the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation) started by Frederick R. Weisman, the man who lived in that home. Frederick R. Weisman died in 1994 after spending 40 years collecting art.
When I showed that photograph to a friend of mine, she asked me: “Have you ever been to a sushi party?”
I replied, “No. What is a sushi party.”
She replied,
- “A sushi party is a party at which you eat sushi off the bare back of a totally nude woman.
- “The totally nude woman is on her hands and knees.
- “The sushi is on her bare back.”
Mr. Weisman’s home is full of original modern artwork created by famous artists such as Paul Cezanne, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Willem de Kooning, Henry Moore, Isamu Noguchi, Pablo Picasso, Mark Rothko, Roy Lichtenstein, Max Ernst, Rene Magritte, Joan Miro, Jackson Pollock, Claes Oldenburg, David Hockney, Jasper Johns, Alexander Caldwell, and Andy Warhol.
Mr. Weisman’s home is now is a marvelous art museum.
The sensual table above (in which a woman is the base of a table) was created by the British pop artist Allen Jones, who is best known for his human furniture which depict women in the role of furniture.
In this piece of furniture, the artist has set up a theatre in which the viewer’s assumptions will come into play demonstrating the truth of Anais Nin’s statement, “We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are.”
Sex identity, gender identity, cultural role playing, social performance, psychosexual drives and identity were big issues in the Presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and remain big contemporary issues today.
My favorite Frederick R. Weisman quote is,
“I don’t think there is anything that communicates better than art – it is quicker than language and clearer than philosophy.”
With that in mind, what do you think the cartoon sent to me this morning (November 10, 2016) is communicating?
Be Hip
Be hip.
After reading this post, post your social comments on the role of women either on The Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange blog at http://www.garysmolker.wordpress.com/2016/10/29/sizzle-by-gary-smolker/ or on the Dude’s Guide to Women’s Shoes Blog at http://www.dudesguidetowomensshoes.com or send your comments directly to me by email at GSmolker@aol.com.
Enjoy the SIZZLE by Gary Smolker – “WHAT IS THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY GAME” – Ride
Before I created SIZZLE by Gary Smolker, my friend Eric Teitelbaum put his toes into the waters of SIZZLE by Gary Smolker – the “What Is the Role of Women in Society Game” – by replying to my email request to tell me the definition of hip and why so many hip people are not satisfied with their lives.
I have known Eric Teitelbaum since we were classmates together in the 8th grade at Nellie N. Kaufman Junior High School in Palm Springs, California.
Although I was funnier and more of a cut-up than Eric, to his credit and glory Eric grew-up to become an internationally famous cartoonist and my consultant on how to be hip and on how to look less uncool.
A Brief History of Eric’s Involvement
On October 24, 2016, I posted a movie review of “Nocturnal Animals on my Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange Blog at https://garysmolker.wordpress.com/a-comment-on-visionary-tom-fords-newest-movie-nocturanl-animals-by-gary-smolker/ and notified Eric that I had done so.
I posted a recent picture of myself taken, which was taken on October 19, 2016, in my office in Encino, California at the end of that email.
After posting my movie review of “Nocturnal Animals” I sent an email to Eric in which I asked Eric:
- “What is your definition of ‘hip’ and
- “Why is it desirable to be hip?
- ‘Why are so many ‘hip’ people not satisfied with their lives?’
- Later I asked Eric: “Are you a perfectionist workaholic provocateur?”
Eric commented on my “Uncool Appearance” in the photograph above by email.
See copy of email exchanges below.
On Oct 26, 2016 8:09 AM, “Gary Smolker” <gsmolker@aol.com> wrote:
EricAre you a perfectionist workaholic provocateur?
Check our the excerpt below from my post (posted last night on Dude’s Guide to Women’s Shoes at www.dudesguidetowomensshoes.com) titled WHEN WOMEN HAVE A MESSAGE TO SEND THEY FLAUNT IT.——————————Below is an excerpt from a post on Dude’s Guide to Women’s Shoes posted on October 25, 2016.——————————That woman is wearing high heels.Look at her high heels.Look at her good looking body.—————————Are the pictures above charged with erotic frisson?Why did the artist create that sculpture?What was/is the message presented to you when you look at that sculpture?What is the meaning of that sculpture to you?Why did the art collector purchase that table? Why did he put that table in his TV room?WHAT IS THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY TODAY?Check out my entire piece on the role of woman titled WHEN WOMEN HAVE A MESSAGE TO SEND THEY FLAUNT IT, posted last night on Dudes Guide to Women’s Shoes at www.dudesguidetowomensshoes.comBy the way, don’t forget to ride a motorcycle.I know artists work when they feel like working.I know artists do what they feel like doing when they fell like doing it.Below is a picture of the type of motorcycle I have in mind for you.
I repeat the woman holding the table top on her back is wearing high heels.
- What is the symbolic importance of that woman wearing high heels?
- What message is being sent by a woman when she is wearing high heels – to men?
- What message is being sent by a woman wearing high heels to other women?
- Is the message being sent by a woman wearing high heels (a) that she wants to have fun, (b) that she is a confident woman, (c) that she is willing to endure pain to look prettier/more beautiful?
Look at her high heels again.Look at her good looking body.Below is a picture of the type of motorcycle I have in mind for you [Eric].
Eric’s Rejoinder
Eric replied:
“Yo Gary!
Stop Worrying– You are HIP!…but you can even appear more HIP by looking less UNCOOL…
Here’s the secret sauce:
- “Hire a stunt double to stand in for all your photos… (maybe a Ryan Seacrest type… I hear he works cheap!)
- “Get some work done— Maybe a little face, neck, rhino or liposuction… (all the while announcing on your website that you intend to age gracefully)
- “Commit a minor crime… then in lieu of rehab, appear on ‘Dancing with the Stars!’
“My good friend, Gary,
“I love the ‘lighter side’ as much as you do…btw: great motorcycle! :)”
Eric
Today’s political gag:
COUPLE WATCHING EVENING NEWS NEWSCASTER
“So many Celebrities are threatening to move to Canada that most Canadians are threatening to move to Alaska.”
SIZZLE SIZZLE SIZZLE
I love beauty, art, painting, music, sculpture, books and gardens.
The question “What is the role of women in society is a biased question?
The real question is “What are the roles of men and women in society?
Below is a photograph of my good friend Femme Fatale and me taken while we were on a tour of a neighbor’s villa, in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles.
The neighbor’s villa contains an art collection.
Femme Fatale and I both love art.
Seeing the art collection in that neighbor’s villa was one of the most memorable experiences of our lives.
The owner of that villa – the man who collected the art that is in that villa – has passed away.
His villa is now an art museum and open to the public.
It is open to viewing for free by the public by appointment.
His villa still contains the exact same furniture and art that surrounded him while he was alive living in that villa.
Passion for Art and Beauty
That villa is a testament to that man’s passion for art and beauty.
By acting on his passion for art and beauty he left a legacy for the public, including Femme Fatale and me, to enjoy.
Femme Fatale and I both have a love and passion for art and beauty.
Femme Fatale and I have known each other for about five years.
Look at the fantastic sculpture on the front lawn of that villa with Femme Fatale and I standing in front of it.
The photograph below was taken on Tuesday, October October 25, 2016.
Below is a photograph, taken by me on October 25, 2016, of the entry way and front door of that man’s home.
Gorgeous Women Are Often Surrounded by Rich Men
I am attracted to intelligent women – such as Femme Fatale – who are artistic, who love painting, poetry, music, the performing arts, books and science.
I’ve noticed a connection and an intersection between art, beautiful women and rich men.
- On October 29, 2016 I received an email which confirmed the connection/intersection between art and beautiful women and rich men which I’ve always seen and felt.
- That email contained an article about rich men who purchase nude sculptures of women who are their mistresses and/or high priced escorts.
[Aside: Many rich men have the attitude that women are objects and believe they are superior to women in every way. I, on the other hand, am attracted to women who are superior to me in one way or another.]
For full details about that connection/role of women/status of women in society, see the October 27, 2016 issue of “The New York Times” article titled A SCULPTOR REAPS THE REWARDS OF ART DEALS BROKERED IN THE BEDROOM.
The gist/story line of that article is that artist Skye Ferrante makes abstract portrait sculptures of women who are the mistresses of rich men and/or high end “escorts.” Those women pose in the nude. The sculpture Skye creates is an abstract portrait.
He and his models sell the sculpture of their nude bodies of the models to men in their life who want to have a keepsake abstract sculpture of her.
According to that article Skye and his model share sale proceeds equally, 50:50.
One of Sky’s customers is quoted as saying the sculpture he purchased was beautifully constructed. He is also quoted as saying:
Its depiction of the woman, her hair unruly and her eyes closed, was abstract enough for anyone to appreciate, but realistic enough that he – through not his wife – could still recognize her.
His wife likes the sculpture but she doesn’t know anything about it.
The article goes on — sculptures have been displayed in the buyers’ homes, with few who saw them knowing what inspired them.
After reading that article I sent the following reply to Mayer. My reply was inspired by my belief in the equal status of men and woman.
“Great article.
“Who hasn’t given a gift a woman who is a rock-star-among-rock-stars?
“Better yet, who hasn’t received a gift from such a woman?”
My Comments Re The Role of Women and Men In Society
The world has changed since I got married in 1968.
Births to Unmarried Women
According to an article I read: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Vital Statistics Report reports: births to unmarried women in 1960 was 5%; 23% in 1986 and 41% in 2012.
Women Are More Than Baby Producing Machines
The world is full of beautiful, caring, intelligent, witty, poetic, artistic, sensitive women and men who love them.
Below is a picture of one of them, Femme Fatale, taken at the Rose Cafe, in Venice, California on February 10, 2016.
Femme Fatale and I have shared many adventures with each other.
The Rose Cafe is a very special hip place in Venice, California.
Femme Fatale had never heard of the Rose Cafe.
I knew she would enjoy being there.
That is why I took her there.
Being with someone who enjoys the same thing(s) you do is very enjoyable to both parties.
Women and men who do things together that both enjoy are more than a sex object to each other, or a cash machine and more than a servant or each other’s servant.
The Role of Women
My belief is that the role of a woman is to make a home which is a warm place a man will want to come home to.
My belief is based on what I experienced while I was going up, before I got married in 1968.
In the 1960s the issues of gender identity and same sex marriage was not on the table for discussion and most married women did not have a ‘paying job’, married women stayed at home.
The Role of Men
My current belief is that the role of a man is to help a woman make the home a warm place for both to come home to.
My current belief is based on my experience too.
Most women I know today, college educated women and women who have not graduated from college, have a paying job outside the home.
Some women have to work at two or more jobs in order to be self-sustaining.
Today, many college educated men and women live at home with their parents while in their 20s and into their 30s because they can’t find a job or a combination of jobs that will pay them enough money for them to be self-sustaining.
Under such circumstances it is not physically or emotionally possible for women to handle all household chores by themselves.
It is necessary for men to “help out around the home”, to do household chores.
The Role of Money
Today, it is not unusual for a woman to make more money then her boyfriend or her husband.
Mental and Emotional Compatibility
My belief is that money is much less important than “mental compatibility.”
Both man and woman must “approve” of each other, respect each other, enjoy being with each other, be willing to “sacrifice” and to “compromise” to make each other happy and at the same time must be true to themselves/be true to their identify/their self-image.
Both man and woman must be willing to stick together through good times and bad and must make the best of everything together.
They must be happy to laugh together and to cry together.
You don’t have to be rich to treat yourself, or to treat the woman in your life, or to treat the man your life.
Flowers Are A Life Force
Give the woman in your life flowers.
Give the man in your life flowers.
Give yourself flowers.
Live Is Lovely and Fleeting
Life is lovely and fleeting.
Flowers are the hallmark of spring.
There is no surer sign of renewal in the world, of awakening and rebirth.
Flowers are incorporated into ritual and sacrament the world over, as emblems of eros, beauty, perfection, purity, fertility, joy, love, spiritual transformation and resurrection.
We flourish in concert with the flower(s) around us.
TAKEAWAY:
MEN: Give the woman you care about flowers.
Life is more artistic than art can ever be.
Flowers make a home a warm place to come home to.
Gary S. Smolker, publisher, movie reviewer, social commentator Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange Blog www.garysmolker.wordpress.com Gary Smolker, fashion blogger Dude's Guide to Women's Shoes www.dudesguidetowomensshoes.com
Copyright © 2016 by Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved
Gary S. Smolker 
SUPER-ACHIEVERS – by Gary Smolker
Sep 26
Posted by Gary S. Smolker
Super-Achievers
Phiona Mutesi (the star of “Queen of Katwe”), Aisholpan Nurgaiv (the star of “The Eagle Huntress”) and Maria Toorpakai Wazir (the star of “Girl Unbound”) are super-achievers.
Each achieved something which was inconceivable in their country, something completely against what is or was expected of girls and women in their country before they did it.
Phiona Mutesi went from the humble beginnings to national and international stardom. She was born and lived most of her life in a shanty town in rural Uganda. She was unable to read or write. She went from living a life of destitution in a shanty town to become a national chess champion in Uganda and then became an international chess champion.
Aisholpan Nurgaiv broke an almost 2,000 year patriarchal tradition of her people. For generations the sacred practice of capturing and training wild eagles has been passed exclusively from fathers to sons.
As a 13 year-old-girl, Aisholpan broke the sacred tradition of only men capturing and training wild eagles in the Altai region in western Mongolia and went on to win the Eagle Hunter/Trainer championship in her country.
Defying fundamentalists threats on her life and on the life of her family, Maria Toorpakai Wazir played squash, became part of Pakistan’s national squash team and an internationally competitive squash player.
Growing up with an athletic physique, Maria dressed as a boy in order to compete in sports and weightlifting.
I did not know anything about any of these three women until I saw a movie about each of them at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, in Toronto, Canada in September, 2016.
Manly Men
Manly men know there are things worth fighting for.
Phiona Mutesi, Aisholpan Nurgaiv, and Maria Toorpakai Wazir were able to accomplish what they accomplished because of a “father” who respected their intellect, respected their ambition, respected their abilities, respected their character and did what it took to enable Phiona Mutesi, Aisholpan Nurgaiv and Maria Toorpakai Wazir to realize their dreams.
Men, real men, manly men helped/enabled these women prove they could do things their society said a woman couldn’t do and shouldn’t do.
These men were tough and rugged but also the epitome of love and compassion.
These men took responsibility for protecting their children.
These men took responsibility for enabling [female] children to live up their child’s potential.
Many people today are asking these days, “Where are all the real men.”
My recommendation to those people is: “See “Queen of Katwe”, “The Eagle Huntress”, and “Girl Unbound.”
Their actions in their lives, and the actions of many other men like them, demonstrate the core of real manhood.
Real men lift people up.
The Basis of My Personal Interest in the Status of Women, Roles Imposed on Women, and Societal Limitations on the Rights and Freedom of Women
My sense of justice and fairness is repelled when I see women being denied the credit and full recognition they deserve.
I am disgusted and repelled when I see degradation of women.
Women have always been indispensable.
RESPECT due women is coming due to the spread of educational opportunity, due to society allowing women greater independence and freedom, and due to the growing responsibilities of women in society.
Because of all of the above, women are becoming more indispensable than ever.
In their minds, the women I know have jobs that are never about sitting at a desk from nine to five. Instead, their jobs are about getting the work done.
Personal Facts
I have three daughters and a granddaughter.
I am a fashion blogger (on Dudes Guide to Women’s Shoes at http://www.dudesguidetowomensshoes.com), and a social commentator and movie reviewer (on The Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange Blog at http://www.garysmolker.wordpress.com.
I am interested in anthropology, art, beauty, creativity, consciousness, morality, the history of civilizations, evolutionary biology, psychology, and in evolutionary psychology.
I am also interested in economics and politics.
I am very interested in what it means to be human:
The status and expectations of being married, the rules for raising children, and the power of parental affection on the development of a child are very important to me.
I am very concerned about society’s view of the status of women and women’s rights.
I am very concerned about forces that want to dictate what a woman’s role should be.
I am very concerned about society’s view of the treatment of women in society.
I am profoundly interested in the status of women because I believe the hand that rocks the cradle determines the future of the world.
By the way, according to a recent United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Vital Statistics Report, the percentage of births to unmarried women has sky-rocketed from 5% in 1960 to 23% in 1988 to 41% in 2012.
People Need Be Sustainers Society
In view of the latest media uproar and in view of the simultaneous politician of all stripes uproar resulting from some things Donald Trump said eleven years, people in the United States need to prevent their thinking from being trampled by the volume and intensity of those two simultaneous uproar.
The people of the Unites States need to ask themselves the following line of questions:
After release of the tape,
OCTOBER 12, 2016 UPDATE: Three women have publicly, stated in newspaper interview articles that Donald Trump sexually assaulted them.
To say that animals evolved into man is like saying that Carrara marble evolved into Michelangelo’s David.
MY ADVICE:
Keep in mind:
In Politics
In politics the ignorant and the venal have as much right to their votes as the educated and upstanding.
In politics differences of opinion are rarely resolved and almost never definitively; in politics the best outcomes are typically compromises that leave all parties grumbling.
Super-Achievers (People with Exceptional and Unusable Abilities) Sometimes Have Mental Disorders
Siddhartha Mukherjee reports in his latest book “THE GENE”:
I Relish Absurdity and I Dread Boredom.
Both presidential candidate Donald Trump and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton have a great opinion of their own good qualities.
They both have a great opinion of their personal and social conscience.
They both have a great opinion of all the accomplishments in their lives.
They are both proud of their versatility.
They are both proud of their acute sensitivity to political conditions in the world.
They are both proud of their understanding of the social and economic conditions in the United States, and how to fix what needs to be fixed.
Each of them mix up fancies with realities.
But, do not be led astray by mere appearances.
We might only be witnessing a form of hyper-functional creativity [creative effervescence] in action.
“We of the craft are all crazy,” Lord Byron, the high priest of crazies wrote. “Some are affected by gaiety, others by melancholy, but all are more or less touched.”
Or, as Edvard Munch put it,
Donald Trump’s and Hillary Clinton’s Speeches Are
Great, Spellbinding, and Educational
They penetrate beneath imposing sham to an ugly or common reality.
They mightily list highly visible disgusting states of affairs.
They passionately discuss abuses in the United States that they each claim they will fix.
The world is witness to a great debate on how the world ought to be run.
The world is also witness to a rich and varied discussion on how political campaigns ought to be run.
No One Can Interrupt the March of Donald Trump’s Mind
Nor Can Anyone Interrupt the March of Hillary Clinton’s Mind
Charismatic figures show only strength.
They refuse to buckle under.
They are ace self-regarders.
The usurious self-applause of both candidates while campaigning is entertaining.
Each candidate’s self-applause and each candidate throwing dirt at their opponent makes everybody else’s life less boring.
The Great Experiment Known As Democracy Is Succeeding
Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton has been deterred by outcries of complaint, or by being hated or by being detested.
Wrangled, brangled, jangled by material designed to engage the public’s intellectual curiosity, everyone in the world listens on and on to what Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have to say — a world-wide audience listens on with rap attention to what they say, never knowing what they will reveal or say next.
Brangle
Brangle is an archaic British word which means
Shedding Light on the Status of Women Today
My daily life, my daily thoughts and my daily actions and interactions bring me into direct contact with (a) the status of women in society, (b) how women dress, (c) social forces relating to the appearance and conduct of women, (d) how women are treated and also into direct contact with (e) the evolving nature of relationships between men and women and between women with men, between fathers and daughters, between daughters and fathers, between husbands and wives and between wives and husbands.
In that regard:
Highly Charged E-mail
On September 23, 2016, I received an email titled “Disappearing Dresses” which contains pictures of traditional female dress in Muslim societies in which at one time women were allowed to wear colorful clothes and where they are now forced to wear black tents that completely hide what they look like.
Below are the photographs of women in colorful clothing copied from that email and presented here in this blog post on the Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange Blog.
The message to me of that email is that something is wrong in those societies.
I believe it is natural for women to want to be [and to appear to be] attractive to healthy male members of the opposite sex.
I believe it is our biological heritage to allow women to be attractive to men by wearing beautiful clothing.
I believe that mate choice, which favors traits simply because they prove attractive to the opposite sex, is as important a factor in [human] evolution as survival of the fittest.
According to the email I received the photographs below depict traditional dresses freely worn in public by women in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, India, Iran, Malaysia, Iraq, Syria, Morocco, and Tunisia before women in those societies were forced to wear a burkas and/or a niqab, covering their entire bodies.
In response to seeing the email referred and the photographs contained therein (see below), one of my friends replied,
An Email Purporting to Show Traditional Dresses No Longer Being Worn for Public Display in Misogynistic Repressive Societies
According to the email I received on September 23, 2016:
This is a traditional Pakistani dress …
These are Bangladeshi dresses…
These are Afghani dresses…
This is an Indian dress…
These are Iranian dresses…
This is a Malaysian dress… (see next two photos below)
This is an Iraqi dress…
This is a Syrian dress…
This is a Moroccan dress…
This is a Tunisian dress…
Note the good cheer and happiness beaming [radiating] out from the women wearing the clothing depicted in the photographs above.
Note the “sexy” [sexually attractive] shoes worn by the woman wearing the traditional Pakistani dress and also the “sexy shoes” worn by the woman on the left in the photograph women wearing traditional Bangladeshi dresses.
Note the bright lipstick worn by women in those photographs.
A WOMAN’S AND A MAN’S CLOTHS ARE A SYMBOL AND A UNIFORM OF A TRAIT OF PERSONALITY AND POWER AT ALL LEVELS IN ALL SOCIETIES
Look at how happy the women shown in the colorful dresses look.
Women dress to make themselves feel well.
“Looking good” – by wearing good looking clothing – makes a woman feel feel good about herself, which in turn makes her have self-confidence which in turn makes her happy; all of which has a giant impact on how a woman expresses herself, behaves and enjoys life.
A WOMAN’S CLOTHING IS IMPORTANT TO HER AND TO EVERYONE ELSE SHE COMES INTO CONTACT WITH.
According to Charles Darwin, as interpreted by Tom Wolf in his latest book “The Kingdom of Speech”: evolution turned Homo Sapiens [man] into a more sensitive animal, which in turn gave him something approaching aesthetic feelings. The male began to admire females who had the least apelike hides because he could see more of their lovely skin, which excited him sexually. The more skin he saw, the more he wanted to see. Obviously valued by the males because their hides were much less hairy, the most sought after females began to look down their noses at the old-fashioned hairy males, one crude step away from the apes themselves. Generation after generation went by, thousands of them, until, thanks to natural selection, males and females became as naked as they are today.
The human mind evolved like the peacock’s tail and the elk’s antlers, for courtship and mating. That is the reason our ancestors became attracted not only to pretty faces and healthy bodies, but also to minds that were witty, articulate, generous and conscious.
Freedom of Expression
I feel very sad that women that women are repressed in so called strict Islamic society; that they are not “permitted” to wear colorful traditional dresses [such as those pictured above].
ASIDE: IN SOME SOCIETIES WOMEN ARE NOT ALLOWED TO LOOK MEN IN THE EYES
I have been told by one women that she was not allowed to look directly into a man’s eyes.
If she did so she was beaten.
Cultural Evolution
As a fashion blogger, I have interviewed many women in America about women’s shoes.
During my many interviews of women, I have repeatedly been told, with few exceptions, by the women I interviewed that they wouldn’t want a guy buying shoes for her.
Many women I interviewed told me they want to pick the shoes they wear for style and to try them on for fit and comfort.
I think that is very sad.
It is very sad that almost the entire male population in the United States, and perhaps almost the entire male population in the entire world, knows nothing about women’s shoes.
“Dudes Guide to Women’s Shoes” http://www.dudesguidetowomensshoes.com
The total lack of understanding and knowledge in the general male population about women’s shoes – the total lack of understanding of what a women’s shoes signifies – caused Lou Coronado and I to launch a blog titled Dudes Guide to Women’s Shoes in August, 2016.
Dudes Guide to Women’s Shoes can be found at http://www.dudesguidetowomensshoes.com.
Evolutionary Biology
You can find out more about Charles Darwin’s theory of evolutionary biology in Charles Darwin’s book The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, published in 1871.
You can also find out more about the theory of evolutionary biology in Geoffrey F. Miller’s book The Mating Mind, published in 2000.
Current Day Women Who Conquered Cultural Hierarchy Impediments in the World of Human Culture Today Who I Saw Celebrated in Three Films at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival
Today, every American male should contemplate what it means to be a manly man.
Think abut these four questions:
Three of the films (“The Eagle Huntress”, “Girl Unbound” and “Queen of Katwe”) I saw at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival are about girls and women who faced and conquered the challenges faced by women in cultures and countries where women are considered inferior to men.
“Queen of Katwe”
“The Eagle Huntress”
“Girl Unbound”
Each of those three movies indicate a path for our unique human capacities for art, music, sports, religion, self-consciousness, and care for others to bring us to a better world.
Our minds are entertaining, intelligent, creative, and articulate far beyond the demands of surviving on the plans of Pleistocene Africa.
Those three movies show how our minds are evolving, not just as survival machines, but also as “make the world a better place machines.”
Copyright © 2016 by Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved
Posted in Charismatic Figures, fashion, Misogynistic Societies, Movie Review, Permissiable Dress in Misogynistic Societies, Social Commentary on Status of Women, status of women, Super Achievers
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