Anyone Out There Looking For a Role Model?

Whew, is this going to need Spell Check, or what!

On the occasion of I don’t know what, I heard a snippet of (it must be at least the 30^th? anniversary) a debate between Gloria Steinem, Norman Mailer, Bella Abzug, it may have been Germaine Greer, and someone else, on what I think was the Dick Cavett show. But thinking on this more deeply, it may not have been those folks at all; but what the umbrella topic was was (there shouldn’t be two “was’es” there, should there?) Well, anyhoo! They were animatedly discussing feminism. I seem to recall Bill Buckley sticking his head in from time to time, so maybe he was on the panel as well. But…I digress (you KNEW I would work that in sooner or later so I might as well get it over with!).

But..I continue. Ms Steinem, I believe, led off with a line to the effect of “You know, Norman, it’s not easy being a woman!” I am putting severe strain on my already limited recall talents in trying to resurrect a conversation held a long time ago; but here goes… Norman Mailer responds with,  “Well, it ain’t no picnic being a man either, sweetheart!”

Now, please indulge me with a little slack here, but o.k., so Norman was a caveman misogynist of the greatest ilk, hairy back and all. A troglodyte, certainly!  (Serious digression up ahead:  Now, one would think that everything about us humans would have, once upon a time, had some evolutionary purpose…but, come on…a hairy back? Nowadays, it would be a hassle having a lot of hair on your back—it would make your shirts at a minimum, be ill-fitting! And, beyond that would come the “cumbersomeosity.” Let’s say it’s a steamy summer day in NYC. Realistically, you can’t wear shorts without scaring little kids. Your legs look like generous croquet wickets, for God’s sake! So… you get the brilliant idea to shave your back to “lighten the load” so to speak. Now, I seem to recall what was presented as a truism was that if you cut certain hair it will come roaring back with twice the force. Well, by golly, you don’t want that to happen! No sirree!  Tommy, wasn’t there a Seinfeld episode about Kramer and his adventures with shaving his back, and maybe Jerry, too?).

So…back to the topic at hand;  feminism.  This lengthy scenic diversion brings me to kind of a topic for today…women looking for an inspired role model, look no further. A must-see movie (there aren’t many, mind you!) would be “RBG,” and something else in the title. I tried to Google search it but I ended up with lots of information on totally unrelated topics so I gave up.  RBG are the initials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a slight but ferocious woman who happens to be a Supreme Court Justice.  Anyone who has tried to do ‘planks’ (a grueling core exercise) will stand (or sit back) in awe of Ms. Ginsburg.  She energetically pursues the activity for longer than I can, for sure (reportedly, Michelle Obama can ‘plank’ for 3 minutes, but she’s a lot younger than Ruth…or me.  Try it sometime).

Positive role models right now are hard to come by.   I personally would not place our ‘Commander (Buffoon in Chief’ in that category.  But…Ms. Ginsburg, a Bill Clinton appointee, has weathered the test of time.  Backing off of my role as a political agnostic, I need to confess that I was duly impressed; and I think you should see this movie, over all of the super-hero, Star Wars, ‘splosions that you can currently choose from.

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