Gentle Chirruping - April24 update

HOLD ON 

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                     PAIN ENDS.  

Another lady indoors carried on her canvas the old apple pie, Have a nice day. 

The impulse to run that one down to make her state her bona fides more clearly was resisted.

Either/or was welcome relief from GENTLE WOMAN. Capik. Wearied that one. Months now it had only been bags for GW, until just recently the progression to purses & apparel. 

The faded older gal, older than the second (first was advanced years), with her usual heavy eye-liner, had tried on a shy smile last week, after sheepishly fetching up to the table. Make-up, smart office/front desk navy, tightly bound coloured hair. The echo of the Italo/Grecian tragics, those beauties who had never found love or managed children, surprised in the Chinese form. Callas, Magnani; &etc.   

The regular 4PM Indian techies knew that style you were sporting yourself. Slightly ragged & dishevelled chic updated the old saddhus back home. Didn’t get much of a run hereabout.

These particular guys were also a trifle shy in their own way; couple generations later the colour bar remained.  

But Gent W. Feminism had barely scratched the surface here. Plenty of feisty, tough old gals; the soft feminine, however, certainly did blitz the field. Some of the chipmunk voices on the street drilled deep into the brain. Astonishing. Nothing comparable.

Couple years ago one of the conservative Malaysian Ministers… But this was going to sound crazy; impossible to credit. Easy to picture the blankness on the other side, reading.  

…Women ought, suggested the Minister—for women’s affairs in all likelihood, in the recent backdoor government, lady by the name of Rina Harum. 

Women ought, counselled Minister Rina in her tight scarf and caked make-up… women ought speak to their husbands like the cartoon character Doraemon. 

(Confirmed: Women, Family & Community Development, in the Ismail Sabri government. Also rather contentious, shall we say,  the lady’s stance on underage marriage.)  

Perhaps Gentle was first adopted in the fashion houses of France or Spain, as part of the backlash. Reassure the lads; let ‘em know. We’re on your side, boys. All for it. Trad. gentling laid on, chaps, not to worry. 

Cat & poodle gals; allow women to be women; &etc. 

Pleated skirts, heels, make-up & lashes. Beauty duty was a given, matter of course. Well-nigh impossible to get a look-in otherwise.

You never saw casual attire for Gentles.  

They wouldn’t exactly gravitate to old, worn guys, though naturally the whiting retained its powerful allure. Got you a foot in the door.    

 

NB. Googling again, the Thai genesis was surprising for Gentle. A turn-up. Though the locale was right.