Archive for the ‘Social class’ Category
February 19, 2024
First came the moral monster Don Giovanni being dragged down to hell for murder and a career of sexual imposition, with a restorative operatic appendix in which the people of Seville sing to his downfall. Then a delightful Mozartean orchestral interlude, apparently the brisk scherzo movement of a symphony (dominated by woodwinds and brass). And then we’re back in Seville, where Figaro is measuring the space for the bridal bed he and Susanna will soon share, while she’s trying on her wedding headpiece; hovering over the couple is the specter of Figaro’s literally rapacious employer Count Almaviva. Yes, it’s a comic opera about sex and power, and it’s a masterpiece.
That’s what brought me to consciousness and a new day at 2:15 am — my life has been deranged in so many ways that I no longer know how to report on it, except for the MQoS announcement that I’m not dead yet — and, yes, I did recognize that the orchestral interlude was in fact the overture to Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro [‘The Marriage of Figaro‘], capturing the spirit of the work without using any of its music, getting us into the proper mood for the opera without disclosing any of its thematic material. Not even a whiff of Figaro’s aria “Se vuol ballare (signor contino)”, which is the essence of the opera plot distilled into a dance tune. (If this were a Broadway musical, “Se vuol ballare” would be the main theme of the overture. With Figaro’s aria to that amorous butterfly Cherubino, “Non più andrai (farfallone amoroso)”, as a contrasting second theme.)
Expanding now on three things: the overture as a free-standing orchestral composition; “Se vuol ballare” as Figaro‘s theme song; and a note on Figaro as an ensemble opera. Plus an appendix flagging an intricate topic in g&s (gender & sexuality) studies that’s central in the plots of both Don Giovanni and Figaro.
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Posted in Gender and sexuality, Language of sex, Music, My life, Social class | 2 Comments »
May 15, 2022
As in yesterday’s posting “Romper buddies”, about an ad for Romperjacks: not RAJ the land of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh, but ROJ the land of rompers, overalls, and jumpsuits. With a photo gallery. To whet your interest, two Romperjacks items:
(#1) The floridly beautiful Jungle Print romper
(#2) The elegant White Chateaux romper
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Posted in Categorization and Labeling, Clothing, Fashion, Gender and sexuality, Lexical semantics, Masculinity, Play, Social class, Sociocultural conventions | Leave a Comment »
August 22, 2021
On 8/19, a posting about the novelty song “Harry’s Jockstrap” from 50+ years ago — a jock that’s pale blue, suggesting that Harry is a fairy:
Harry’s jockstrap, Harry’s jockstrap
It’s pale blue, it’s pale blue
They say that he’s a fairy. But Harry is so hairy
So are you, so are you
… [The verse] suggests that Harry’s hairiness shows that he couldn’t be queer, presumably because, the singer believes, significant body hair is a sign of masculinity, and that’s incompatible with homosexuality. The whole thing is silly beyond belief; the world is rich in hairy fairies … Though I do understand that hairiness as a litmus for straightness is a widely held folk belief, a consequence of the powerful folk theory that homosexuality is literally sexual inversion, so that gay men are, by definition, feminine, in fact a species of female.
So far, some folk associations; there will be more:
— 1 a man’s wearing pale blue clothing (or, more generally, pastel clothing), especially underwear, especially a jockstrap, INDICATES homosexuality
— 2 heavy body hair on a man, especially on the chest, INDICATES high masculinity, which in turn INDICATES heterosexuality
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Posted in Books, Gender and sexuality, Language and the body, Masculinity, Opposition, Race and ethnicity, Social class | 10 Comments »
March 15, 2020
(Little kids, but I pursue them into the weeds of sexual anatomy, though without the photos or raunchy talk. Take appropriate cautions.)
The One Big Happy cartoon from 2/9:
(#1) Once again, about the kids finding a word (un)familiar in a particular sense: the apparel noun hood
And the OBH from 2/17:
(#2) And minute ‘extremely small, tiny’
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Posted in Ambiguity, Clothing, Language and the body, Language change, Linguistics in the comics, Metaphor, Semantics of compounds, Social class, Vaginality | 2 Comments »
September 15, 2019
Today’s Zippy takes us into the world of soap-opera comics, specifically those by Nick Dallis (with various collaborators):
(#1) Realistic cartoon characters from three Dallis strips: Rex Morgan, M.D.; Judge Parker; and Apartment 3-G (among other well-known soap opera strips: Mary Worth, Brenda Starr)
The characters in realistic cartoons are stylized sketches from life, while those in cartoony worlds are grossly exaggerated, some not even humanoid in form. Zippy himself is human (a Pinhead rather than a Roundhead) but cartoony — though as other Zippy strips have demonstrated, he can be made even more so (cartooniness is a recurrent theme in Bill Griffith’s world).
Then there’s the segregation theme, with realistic cartoon characters mostly taking the position that realistics and cartoonies shouldn’t mix in any way: stick / keep to your own kind! (Note the meta move of having cartoon characters espouse beliefs and attitudes about cartoon characters.) With the predictable tragedy of prejudice against mixed couples, joined by bonds of affection, sexual relationship, or matrimony.
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Posted in Comic conventions, Formulaic language, Linguistics in the comics, Music, Race and ethnicity, Social class, Social life | 2 Comments »
June 28, 2019
Identify that Artwork, 6/28/19: a piece of conceptual art (what I’ll call Skylunch III) taking off on a sculpture (Skylunch II) reproducing a photograph (Skylunch I) showing construction workers eating lunch on a girder high in the sky. Skylunch II and III are mounted on trucks so that they can easily move from place to place.
Bob Eckstein caught sight of Skylunch III in NYC’s Columbus Circle this morning, on top of a pickup truck:
(#1)
Presumably just part of the composition (Skylunch I and II have 11 men, we see 8 here), and the photo is none too clear. I wondered who created it, when, with what materials, for what purpose, and why the men are — or appear to be — all clones of a single model.
Informed answers to any of these questions would be appreciated; comment on this posting, or send me e-mail. (Google Images is useless; it thinks #1 is a photo of a musical group.)
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Posted in Art, Music, Social class, Social interactions | 1 Comment »
March 7, 2019
(A version of things I posted on Facebook earlier today about my life, with glancing allusions to various phenomena of social life. Posted here to have a more permanent and accessible record, on WordPress. There will be a little bit of linguistics.)
(#1) (Not an accurate portrayal of Xfinity/Comcast staff)
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Posted in Homosexuality, Hypallage, Movies and tv, My life, Social class, Social interactions, Social life, Taboo language and slurs | 2 Comments »
June 16, 2017
… plus two grandmothers.
A bit more for Fathers Day, with photos from back in the day, more Alpen-Flora, and some reflections on social class. Starting with these photos:
(#1)
On the left (#1a): my dad, with his parents, Bertha and Melchior Zwicky, in April 1941 (on, I think, my grandparents’ farm in Sinking Spring PA, west of Reading). On the right, two photos from 1948, at my aunt Marian (Marian Rice Fries) and uncle Herb’s farm outside of New Smithville PA, west of Allentown. Top (#1b): Dad and his mother-in-law, Susannah Hershey Rice (called Sue). Bottom (#1c): Marian and Sue, her mother.
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Posted in Holidays, Language and plants, My life, Names, Social class | 2 Comments »
January 28, 2017
(About video mansex, so not for kids or the sexually modest.)
On the 24th, “A day with Danny Vox in the ultimate fantasy t-room”, an appreciation of the actor Danny Vox in Joe Gage’s Titan porn video Mens Room Bakersfield Station (2004), a long and complex production set in a fantasy t-room in the Bakersfield CA bus station. Now some words on Gage and his career in filming mansex.
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Posted in Gay porn, Gender and sexuality, Language of sex, Masculinity, Social class | Leave a Comment »
