Maureen Dowd, "The Love Goddess Who Keeps Right on Seducing": I'm Not in the Market

Yes, today, August 5th, is the fiftieth anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's death. At the time of her death, I was eight years old, prepubescent, and her tragic passing made little impression on me. Yet, even with the passing of the years, I never took much of an interest in this "goddess," other than to weigh, regarding JFK, who used whom. Don't misunderstand me: a beautiful woman passes by on the street, and - please don't tell my wife - I look, but that's the extent of it. I'm not in the market for seduction. I'm just too busy trying to stay alive. Then, too, as I advance in age and grow rigid in body and mind, perhaps no one would have me.

Truth be told, I also was never taken with Monroe's would-be "dumb blonde" persona and infinitely preferred the wisecracking bawdy facade of a prior generation's sex symbol, Mae "A Hard Man Is Good to Find" West.

In her latest New York Times op-ed, "The Love Goddess Who Keeps Right on Seducing" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/opinion/sunday/dowd-the-love-goddess-who-keeps-right-on-seducing.html?pagewanted=all), Maureen Dowd writes:

"Feminism has come and gone, and women now routinely puff their lips, inflate their chests, dye their hair and dress with sultry abandon. But [Mike] Nichols said Marilyn’s heat went deeper, with a walk, a look and movements that were an 'out-and-out open seduction right in front of everyone.'

Arthur Gelb, the former Times managing editor, likes to tell how he won a $10 bet as a slightly inebriated rewrite man in the ’50s when he reached out and, much to her annoyance, touched Marilyn’s flawless porcelain back as she dined with friends at Sardi’s."

Feminism has come and gone? I don't think so, for the very reason that thankfully no one today would dare touch the back of an actress or any other woman at a restaurant without expecting a law suit and to be forcefully escorted out the door.

And as much as I don't want to return to the '60s ("Mad Men" holds no interest for me), I also watch with trepidation at the demise of the American economy coupled with a disintegration of family and familial values.

What matters today for me? Family, dog, books, growing tomatoes and cucumbers, and seeing therapeutic medical projects through to glorious fruition.

Boring? Absolutely. Increasingly cloistered? You bet I am, and I wouldn't have it any other way.