I’ve got a theory.
When men get older they become more feminine. i.e. they have certain psychological traits which are normally more often associated with women. Homemaking interests. Interest in ornaments and decoration. Cooking and clothes.
I couldn’t claim to have any interest at all in ornaments and stuff when I was younger. It seemed to me that the whole thing (being drawn to Toby Jugs, porcelain animals and the like) was vaguely ridiculous. What is it that makes anyone (male or female) want to surround themselves with shiny things?
Christmas decoration is another example of the same thing. I have two sisters-in-law (you know who you are) who go for the most ornate and fancy trees and decorations, including gross plastic Santas and even musical ‘things’. A house just up the road from where I’m sitting now sports (at Christmas time) a huge plastic Santa face hanging above the front porch. It lights up at night, along with hundreds of fairy lights strewn all around the front of the house. This ‘light up the entire street for Christmas’ example of the interest in ornamentation is a seasonal variation. I bet that there is a woman behind it. Or an older man.
Back to the theory. Men get old and develop these feminine interests. Since I was about thirty-five years old I’ve found myself looking at ornaments and other ‘tat’ (I used to call it tat – now I’m not so sure!) and actually considering it, and where it would look nice at home. Worrying. And strange.
I haven’t started fancying putting a load of fairy lights up outside of my house but I have found myself interested in having a Christmas tree.
What is the consequence of this feminine drift – if it’s true? Well, it seems to me that the implication is that ‘feminine’ is the norm. Masculinity is a deviation for the purposes of procreation. A genetically programmed sub-species tuned to allow more efficient procreation and continued evolution. When the prime years for such activity are over (assuming a more normal lifespan than the extended lifespans that we have these days) we all tend towards the feminine norm.
So, Eve was first.
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