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Quote:
Originally Posted by Susan McLean
But, Roger, the poem doesn't make a general statement such as "Short men are nice." It makes a statement about a personal preference of the speaker, which tells you as much about the speaker as it does about men. And I did mean it to be rather funny, in that making such a statement is not something that one usually does, and the unexpected can come across as funny. There are reasons that the "gentle giant" is seen as unusual and that men with a "Napoleon complex" are, too. Our society is full of unspoken assumptions about height and its connection to personality. Why not examine those expectations to see why they arise?
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I was all set to lambast this poem until I read your considered response to RogerRobert (
) But now I could not agree more with your basic premise that
"Our society is full of unspoken assumptions about height and its connection to personality." Now I'm thinking that this theme would make for a nice suite of poems.
I remember when Randy Newman's "Short People" song caused a furor. Your poem takes a decidedly different tact.
The song that always amazed me in that it never received the pushback/criticism it deserved was
this one. And
here are the lyrics. Misogyny dies hard.
But I like your poem. I didn't at first, but I do now. I admire your boldness. It is a signature of your poetry. I’ve never read a poem of yours posted here where you haven’t been able to impressively defend it.
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