Common Ground
Quite a few weeks ago a friend brought round a DVD recording of the “Faking It” prog: This episode was all about a welsh lass who wanted to fake it as a burlesque artiste.
Not wanting to appear too keen to watch it, because I have two perceptive girls and I’m paranoid, I left it on the table in the front room. But as it happens, last night seemed bereft of anything decent on the box, so my wife and I sat down to watch.
Now, we don’t tend to talk about feminine stuff, because I think my wife gets the impression that I’m all the time applying stuff to me and not talking about it from a ‘normal’ point of view, or is that again because I’m over-sensitive?
Anyway, back to the prog. The welsh lass (can’t think of her name) was very shy and had big issues about a scar on her tum so her mentor, Immodesty Blaise, had her work cut out to bring Scarlet (that’s her stage name anyway) out of her shell.
Getting to the point, we talked about all aspects of the programme while it was on and I didn’t feel in the least bit self-conscious about it, and my wife didn’t seem at all uneasy. Perhaps part of it was the large element of dance, which my wife has always been interested in, having had classic dance training from an early age.
It seems you can’t force these situations to arise, but may be I’ll give it another shot at talking about female attire. Thinking about it my wife has mentioned I don’t comment much on the girls outfits when they’ve been on a shopping spree, and again that could be because I’m too self-conscious - perhaps I need to try harder?
on March 2nd, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Perhaps you are trying too hard not to let your guard down. I know the feeling- wanting to chip in about the subject but biting your lip, as perhaps you know more than is normally ( it’s that word again) accepted, coming from a guy.
I went shopping with my daughter recently and went with her to women’s fashion shops and told her I liked looking at the girls’ clothes as guys clothes are boring. She agreed with me and complained that her boyfriend got bored within 5 minutes of shopping and wouldn’t go to more than one or two shops.
on March 3rd, 2007 at 10:02 am
What is ‘normal’? If you get top make-up artists or celeb hair dressers they tend to be blokes. Okay, so it’s not your typical male profession, but should female IT staff / plumbers be treated with equal derision? :-)
Talking about girlie things with your partner is a difficult line. On one hand it’s great to be able to share your views on topics you just can’t talk about with your (male) friends. Equally, you don’t want to overstep the mark and freak her out about how much you like Smashbox’s eye pencils.
Ladies (or RGs specifically) if your husband’s a tranny, he never gets tired of shopping. Plus, unlike your girlfriend, he’ll carry the bags too. :-)
on March 4th, 2007 at 10:57 am
My experience with the whole RG girlie shopping thing is that they’re all different.
My wife and eldest daughter will shop for hours and almost invariably end up back at the first shop buying what they’d seen 3 hours earlier. BTW, three hours is a short shopping trip.
We went as a family to Meadowhell a few weeks ago and was told five hours wasn’t enough. Observing their methods I realised they were right. To be honest I get really bored with their style of shopping.
On the other hand, my youngest daughter casts an eye over the clothes racks, spots an item, buys it and is moving on to the next shop - no uming and ahing. Much my preferred shopping style. :)
on March 4th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
According to a recent study into shopping patterns, the gender stereotypes are that men target and women peruse. Like other things we’re all somewhere on that sliding scale from focus orientated to browser shoppers.
But three hours? That’s just slacking. :) If you’re gonna shop, put your back into it. So many shops, so little time. :-D