XLIII
We all know the Victorian values
Of economy, hard work and thrift.
Endeavour and achievement were greatly admred
And shirkers were given short shrift.
Victorians were upright and God fearing
So many savage souls they "saved"
Young men were bravely patriotic -
Young girls chastely behaved.
So what did they do with their rebels?
Their young folk who would not conform?
They buried them in large asylums
And forgot that they'd ever been born.
Beneath the Victorian icing
Of piety and charity-giving
Lurked hypocritical double syandards
And some very immoral living.
To Dora and Horace
9.7.1988
Tuesday 5 April 2011
FEMININE RESTRAINTS
XLII
Right through our civilization
Irrespective of time and race
Women have always sought to
Alter their figure and face.
The feet of upper class Chinese girls
Were bound from a tender age.
They could only hobble painfully
Around the marriage stage.
The giraffe women of Africa
With their long metal-ringed necks
Look unnaturally elegant - but
Their vertebrae must be wrecks.
There are other female mutilations
Too painful to mention.
Keeping a girl pure for marriage
Was the official intention.
To get her daughter firmly corsetted
The good Victorian mother made haste;
For who would marry a well bred girl
With more than a 20" waist?
Never mind if her rib-cage was deformed
Or if she tended to faint.
Victorian ladies suffered for beauty -
Moved gracefully because of restraint.
Men like women shackled and suppressed -
So some feminists claim,
But looking at current fashions
I don't think that men are to blame.
As we enter the 21st century
Women are liberated - and free,
But perhaps girls want a reason
For not being able to flee.
Why else would they wear restricting skirts
And such dangerously high heels.
They look extremely uncomfortable -
I wonder how it feels.
But before we get too critical
About what today's young girls wear,
We should recall the sixties -
Mini skirts - stilettos - armoured hair.
A peacock's large unwieldy tail
To show off his strength is essential
Do girls wear such high-heeled shoes
To prove their breeding potential?
July 2000
Right through our civilization
Irrespective of time and race
Women have always sought to
Alter their figure and face.
The feet of upper class Chinese girls
Were bound from a tender age.
They could only hobble painfully
Around the marriage stage.
The giraffe women of Africa
With their long metal-ringed necks
Look unnaturally elegant - but
Their vertebrae must be wrecks.
There are other female mutilations
Too painful to mention.
Keeping a girl pure for marriage
Was the official intention.
To get her daughter firmly corsetted
The good Victorian mother made haste;
For who would marry a well bred girl
With more than a 20" waist?
Never mind if her rib-cage was deformed
Or if she tended to faint.
Victorian ladies suffered for beauty -
Moved gracefully because of restraint.
Men like women shackled and suppressed -
So some feminists claim,
But looking at current fashions
I don't think that men are to blame.
As we enter the 21st century
Women are liberated - and free,
But perhaps girls want a reason
For not being able to flee.
Why else would they wear restricting skirts
And such dangerously high heels.
They look extremely uncomfortable -
I wonder how it feels.
But before we get too critical
About what today's young girls wear,
We should recall the sixties -
Mini skirts - stilettos - armoured hair.
A peacock's large unwieldy tail
To show off his strength is essential
Do girls wear such high-heeled shoes
To prove their breeding potential?
July 2000
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