I was born during year four of the reign of Emperor Tiberius Claudius on the outskirts of the empire in Brooklyn. I married my high school sweetheart, the girl I took to the prom and we were together for forty years until her passing in 2004.
We had four kids together and buried two together. I had a successful career in Corporate America (never got rich but made a living) and traveled the world.
I am currently retired in the Tampa Bay metro area and live alone. One of my daughters is close by and one within a morning’s drive. They call their pops everyday.
I try to write poetry (not very well), and about family. Occasionally I will try a historical piece relating to politics.
:-)
I find the images of the girls in the video quite repulsive, Frank. It seems that like many things in life body sizes are polarizing, from the grossly obese, to the tiny pathetic frames shown here. I surely don’t know the answer, short of banning all advertising, magazines, and fashion.
And we all know that’s not going to happen.
Best wishes, Pete.
Well, I mean some people are thin, others plump, with many in between. Left to themselves, in environment that promotes meaningful social interaction, people will be drawn to a variety of body types and personalities. But the point is nevertheless well made: when the cliques of the fashion industry have the kind of cultural traction to be able to dictate the ‘ideal’ — whatever ‘that’ might be — we are in trouble.
To my mind, the undue influence that media images have on the young and vulnerable is a symptom of a more pernicious and widespread sickness: our society is one in which social relations are tenuous at best, isolation tending to be the norm, while humans have an innate need to bond and connect. Denied opportunities for genuine and deep interpersonal relationships, people will nevertheless be compelled to ‘bond,’ but, so to speak, with whatever may bring them some relief for this frustrated craving for a sense of connection, be it a fantasy that promises the sating of that desire or some ostensibly obsessive behavior, be it a drug or self-indulgent preening.
‘Skinny girl’ is, to be sure, a victim of the fashion industry. But she is above all an allegory for a social context in which we are all being starved of genuine human contact.
toritto 
I find the images of the girls in the video quite repulsive, Frank. It seems that like many things in life body sizes are polarizing, from the grossly obese, to the tiny pathetic frames shown here. I surely don’t know the answer, short of banning all advertising, magazines, and fashion.
And we all know that’s not going to happen.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Well, I mean some people are thin, others plump, with many in between. Left to themselves, in environment that promotes meaningful social interaction, people will be drawn to a variety of body types and personalities. But the point is nevertheless well made: when the cliques of the fashion industry have the kind of cultural traction to be able to dictate the ‘ideal’ — whatever ‘that’ might be — we are in trouble.
To my mind, the undue influence that media images have on the young and vulnerable is a symptom of a more pernicious and widespread sickness: our society is one in which social relations are tenuous at best, isolation tending to be the norm, while humans have an innate need to bond and connect. Denied opportunities for genuine and deep interpersonal relationships, people will nevertheless be compelled to ‘bond,’ but, so to speak, with whatever may bring them some relief for this frustrated craving for a sense of connection, be it a fantasy that promises the sating of that desire or some ostensibly obsessive behavior, be it a drug or self-indulgent preening.
‘Skinny girl’ is, to be sure, a victim of the fashion industry. But she is above all an allegory for a social context in which we are all being starved of genuine human contact.
Very much liked the poem and the video, Frank.
Regards,
–N
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N – I agree completely on the lack of social contact. As for the fashion industry:
https://toritto.wordpress.com/2015/09/02/its-official-the-ideal-woman-is-a-boy/
Regards from Florida.
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