. (mote) wrote in rooms, @ 2015-07-29 13:45:00 |
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Entry tags: | !penny dreadful(s), *journal, *text, mina murray, victor frankenstein |
Victor F, Letters to the Editor
[Locked to Victor F]
"I had a dream, which was not at all a dream."
[A publication]
[Letters to the Editor: The Times - Penny Dreadful(s)] [Published Wednesday, in the correspondence section] With regard to A.I.'s letter -- dated Monday. One must believe that A.I. is new to the world as it exists. Was she born -- the assumption being made that she is female -- entire and whole and on this day? Perhaps she is a thing brought from shadow in one of the ballrooms she lambasts and, yet, clearly attends with sufficient frequency to describe the flicker of the candlelight? My dearest A.I., know this, the world will not change because you write your desires in this periodical. Nor -- and this might come as quite a shock -- does the entirety of the world wished to be changed. There is little point in emancipating that which does not realize it is caged. Do you know these women, the ones you fervently wish to liberate? I know these women. They titter behind their fans, and they've great interest in policing the lengths of hems and sleeves, in ascertaining the propriety of buttons and stays. They whisper about indiscretions, and they politely cast aspersions on anyone who does not suit. They fear women of opinions, and they will not thank you for your efforts on their behalf. Out of your hearing, they would ridicule. Doubtless you are unmarried, they would say. Doubtless you have never known love, they would say. Doubtless you are plain, they would say. Doubtless your pedigree is lacking, they would say. These women are not kind. They garb themselves in pastels, their limbs petals of such beautiful fragility, and their corsets pulled tight to render them things made of tiny footsteps. Dance cards attached to ribbons upon their wrists, they glide through these ballrooms wanting nothing more than to twirl. They do not even think on you. I say this as someone who has danced this dance. I know well the steps, and I know that freedom comes from something very different than anyone comprehends. It is not enough to open the cage door. One must also learn to sing. Signed, M.M. |