tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post1365640580560159805..comments2024-03-11T17:08:07.679+01:00Comments on Sicily Scene: LA GRANDE ILLUSIONWelshcakes Limoncellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17209759237794290941noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-31629254663832318632008-01-13T18:31:00.000+01:002008-01-13T18:31:00.000+01:00Thank you, jams. It is very kind of you to say so...Thank you, jams. It is very kind of you to say so.Welshcakes Limoncellohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17209759237794290941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-87142972781889045952008-01-13T09:34:00.000+01:002008-01-13T09:34:00.000+01:00What a thought provoking post. I can see why you p...What a thought provoking post. I can see why you put this forward as a top post of 2007, Welshcakes. I will have to go back and give it re-readjams o donnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17315325008175184363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-2489484751076477382007-08-15T12:02:00.000+02:002007-08-15T12:02:00.000+02:00Hi, FC. You are very kind. Oh, I love that film ...Hi, FC. You are very kind. Oh, I love that film and yes, Rosalind Russell was /is one of my favourite actresses, along with Katherine Hepburn and Myrna Loy, the eternal "strong little woman".Welshcakes Limoncellohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17209759237794290941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-47354150857381379152007-08-15T01:24:00.000+02:002007-08-15T01:24:00.000+02:00i forgot that i had a quick question for you:from ...i forgot that i had a quick question for you:<BR/><BR/>from your description of yourself as a woman who identifies with strong female characters, would it then follow that you're a rosalind russell fan?<BR/><BR/>i've just been watching "his girl friday", hence the question.fake consultanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09254946474239731269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-66428498531390155372007-08-15T01:10:00.000+02:002007-08-15T01:10:00.000+02:00that was a nice read...thanksthat was a nice read...thanksfake consultanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09254946474239731269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-83791542503254700912007-08-11T00:51:00.000+02:002007-08-11T00:51:00.000+02:00Jmb, I've never had to "juggle" so I don't know wh...Jmb, I've never had to "juggle" so I don't know what it's like but in my "career woman" days I think I neglected my Mum and my lovely Grandad. I would have loved just NOT TO HAVE HAD TO WORK - to have had some chice about it. But the grass is always greener, I suppose, and I might have been a Dora Copperfield. Yes, I do think some women are complacent now - take the number who don't even vote in the UK, for instance. I think you have been very lucky in your marriage and I envy you. Liz - Jo every time! Yes, the fact that she was a writer made me like her, too. Thank you , James, for being so - well, gentlemanly - and thank you for your reply post, which I have read and commented upon on your own blog. It gives me hope when men and women can debate like this. Auguri.Welshcakes Limoncellohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17209759237794290941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-11091236137074932582007-08-10T18:11:00.000+02:002007-08-10T18:11:00.000+02:00Wonderful post, good discussion above and my answe...Wonderful post, good discussion above and my answer here:<BR/><BR/>http://nourishingobscurity.blogspot.com/<BR/>2007/08/feminism-fine-answer-to-supposed.htmlJames Highamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14525082702330365464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-37590317789594953432007-08-10T09:22:00.000+02:002007-08-10T09:22:00.000+02:00Oh, yes, Jo for me too! And she was a writer as we...Oh, yes, Jo for me too! And she was a writer as well.Liz Hindshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04646532093872561703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-22811826199331214482007-08-10T04:26:00.000+02:002007-08-10T04:26:00.000+02:00I don't know which circles some of your commenters...I don't know which circles some of your commenters are frequenting, Welshcakes but speaking on behalf of my daughter and all her friends, they are busy trying to juggle careers with children and husbands. Not at all because they need the money, but because they are trying to make use of their advanced education and establish careers in their own right.<BR/><BR/>I don't think feminism has run aground for young women although many of the goals have been achieved so perhaps there is more complacency than in former times.<BR/><BR/>Also I don't see young women living off men or marrying men they don't love to live a life of luxury and idleness. So I don't know what world Wolfie is living in. It's not the one here in Canada nor in the States where my daughter lives, nor where her friends live.<BR/>Nor was it the life I lived. I did not need to work for the money, because my husband made an adequate salary but I worked for 31 years out of the 38 of my married life until I retired because I wanted to use my talents and education and to contribute to society. (Seven years out for child rearing, then part time work till finally full time when they were in school.)<BR/><BR/>Well what do women want? I can speak only for myself but I think I always wanted to be able do follow any career path I wanted without being told I couldn't do that because I was a man. To have equal pay and equal opportunity in my career to any man. To be treated with respect as a person, for my ideas and actions, not necessarily just because I was a woman. When I married I expected to have equal weight in making decisions that affected the family, in other words I expected a partnership. If all that sounds a bit cold. Let me repeat what Welshcakes said here.<BR/><BR/>"but what this woman probably wants is a man not unlike Professor Bhaer, who would respect me, love me for who I am, discuss trivia and politics with me - and, yes, protect me from the world outside occasionally, as I would him."<BR/><BR/>Luckily I did find a man like that , a man who agreed that I should be an independent fulfilled woman within this very satisfactory marriage which has lasted for 46 years.<BR/>regards<BR/>jmbjmbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13563252743976699923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-31408717701590458672007-08-09T17:45:00.000+02:002007-08-09T17:45:00.000+02:00Well, the conventions of courtly love were invente...Well, the conventions of courtly love were invented, LN. Our emotions are a different matter! Hi, eurodog. Do let me know what conclusions you come to on reading LCL again. Thanks, Wolfie. I suppose a lot of people don't want to admit they've read LW! It is true that womwn want it both ways and the situation you describe here in your 3rd paragraph is, indeed, ironic - and sad, for all concerned.Welshcakes Limoncellohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17209759237794290941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-1508073099700587172007-08-09T13:29:00.000+02:002007-08-09T13:29:00.000+02:00Great post.I was at a dinner-party recently which ...Great post.<BR/><BR/>I was at a dinner-party recently which descended into various drinking/parlour games. Having to ask people simple questions about what they had ever done I asked if anyone had read "Little Women", much to my surprise not a single woman (or man) could say they had. This was a well educated crowd too.<BR/><BR/>I think a lot of the reasons feminism has run aground in recent years is that many young women want it both ways, to be liberated and empowered yet also live vicariously off men without the responsibilities that coexistence entail.<BR/><BR/>I find it interesting that before feminism many more educated women bemoaned their social requirement to marry men of means that they did not love yet now that they have the freedom to marry whom they choose many choose to marry men they do not love for want of a life of luxury and idleness.Wolfiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05820269114208456064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-60697265425493990712007-08-09T09:15:00.000+02:002007-08-09T09:15:00.000+02:00You inspired me to re-read Lady Chatterley's Lover...You inspired me to re-read Lady Chatterley's Lover.Eurodoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03181704119272387177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-56048409020966993242007-08-09T02:53:00.000+02:002007-08-09T02:53:00.000+02:00You are feminine but not a feminist :)Romantic lov...You are feminine but not a feminist :)<BR/><BR/>Romantic love may have been celebrated first by the French, but to proclaim it an invention is to simply proclaim love an aboration.Lord Nazhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00251537214808629536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-5116325839652963542007-08-09T01:56:00.000+02:002007-08-09T01:56:00.000+02:00Hello, Ludlingtonian. How lovely to hear from you...Hello, Ludlingtonian. How lovely to hear from you. Thank you so much for this considered comment. and thank you for your reassurance ragrding my "grumps" about Sicily post. You are absolutely right: we can love a place but becom very aware of its frustrations, and surely as we become more assured in that place, pay its taxes and do everything else that responsible citizens do, then we have the RIGHT to be grumpy at times? It doesn't mean that we love the place any the less - quite the contrary - it means that we are more settled in it. Thank you again for this comment.Welshcakes Limoncellohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17209759237794290941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-77464090657547812862007-08-09T01:50:00.000+02:002007-08-09T01:50:00.000+02:00Hi, Crushed. "Loving one to the exclusion of othe...Hi, Crushed. "Loving one to the exclusion of others" can be interpreted in many ways, of course. But the idea that there is a "the one" [or "Mr Right" for women] often does a lot of harm. Many thanks, jmb. I'm flattered you got through it! Will be interested to see what else you have to say about it later. Thank you, Chris. You are very kind.Welshcakes Limoncellohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17209759237794290941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-14109019989051945562007-08-09T01:46:00.000+02:002007-08-09T01:46:00.000+02:00WL - This was a seriously heavy posting which I ne...WL - <BR/><BR/>This was a seriously heavy posting which I need to read and re-read again. You said much that is interesting and I should like to think further about it.<BR/><BR/>In the meantime, however, I should like to add the following: <BR/><BR/>A few weeks ago you had a post about the frustrations of life in Sicily in which you were somewhat diffident about criticising your adopted country. You needn't have been. I too am an immigrant. After 16 years living in a country in which I was not born, I have come to the conclusion that an immigrant's relationship to his adopted homeland is remarkably similar to a marriage.<BR/><BR/>When I first came to England I was full of starry-eyed wonder, just as I was when I met my partner 5 years ago. But relationships mature. In time we come to see the weaknesses and frailties that we were previously blind to. And yet our love endures, despite the shortcomings. <BR/><BR/>I love my partner more with each day, though I sometimes shake my head and wonder how we ever thought we were compatible. Yet I cannot imagine my life without him. <BR/><BR/>The same is true of my life in England. While I cannot imagine life anywhere else, at the same time I despair of my country's future.<BR/><BR/>Re-reading the above, I realise how lame it is, but at the moment I cannot express the ideas more literately.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-54738739503658713942007-08-09T01:08:00.000+02:002007-08-09T01:08:00.000+02:00Well, I read it all, every word. Great post. Am ...Well, I read it all, every word. Great post. Am now going to reread and digest.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07697792053955724924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-67901991235361885272007-08-09T00:29:00.000+02:002007-08-09T00:29:00.000+02:00Well done WCLC, I made it to the end but I am goin...Well done WCLC, I made it to the end but I am going to save it and print it out and come back again to make a better comment.<BR/>I think on the whole we are totally in agreement. I think neither are <I>la Grande Illusion</I>, just not attainable for everyone.<BR/>I was tempted to write a post about this myself since I was ticked off by some of the ideas expressed previously elsewhere but you have done it in a very rational and ladylike way.<BR/>Well done<BR/>jmbjmbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13563252743976699923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26674022.post-63650758194536630572007-08-09T00:15:00.000+02:002007-08-09T00:15:00.000+02:00Romantic love the way it is fed to us IS an illusi...Romantic love the way it is fed to us IS an illusion, and I think, a bad one.<BR/><BR/>We are encouraged to find 'The one'.<BR/><BR/>We can all be happy in eachother. Romantic Love is a bad ideal, because it means loving just one to the exclusion of all others.<BR/>That can't be right surely.<BR/><BR/>Love should be given freely, we can all love and be love far more than 'Romantic Love' allows us.Crushedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02479751225625007588noreply@blogger.com