Inspiration: A review of Arundhati Roy’s work.
Why is it that intelligence is so often juxtaposed with gentleness and subtlety? I am hard pressed to fathom prototypes or role models, particularly females, who embody both.
i can’t help but think that this is because the slightest hint of preference at precision or strength of will, over sensitivity is prematurely regarded as harsh or unwarranted in a woman. Conversely, favouring precision or following through a goal in a man is not considered detrime talk to his tact or grave. Quite simply, females have to be less exacting and persistent than a man in order to maintain an image of sensitivity and tact.
i liked the description of Arundhati Roy’s essays as “thick with intelligence and firmly bolstered with fact.” and the view that “To Roy’s exacting eye, everything in the world is complicated, contradictory, contingent – even resistance and freedom-fighting.”
I feel that for a woman author, for a woman in her career, as well as in personal relationships, there needs to be a constant balancing act between supporting a conviction and making sure this does not overshadow gentler qualities.
If not walking this tightrope, women either have to either compromise their ideas and sedate their convictions, or let themselves be perceived as ‘bolshy’ or ‘uptight’.
unfairly, defending one’s position or being strong minded or strong willed is perceived as un feminine in many contexts, unless carefully married with a sexy persona, that is.
I hope I can prove this wrong through my behaviour one day, or that someone out there can prove me wrong!
In personal relationships particularly, it is very difficult to get a clear message across without being identified as insensitive.
starlanguage 