Above, the actress Miss Dakota Johnson wearing a metal “dress” – in addition to a pair of shoes – on the occasion of the film/movie “Madame Web” on Valentine’s Day 2024.
The subject matter of today’s blog-post was “suggested” to me by a lady with whom I have a very close relationship – remotely, and when we are on the same continent (she currently resides in the USA – she used to reside in Torquay) in person.
Although separated by the North Atlantic, we communicate regularly by the miracle of 21st Century technology – Zoom. Living in Cincinnati, OH which is five hours behind the UK (GMT-5) it means that our meets in the virtual realm that is “cyberspace” takes place for her in the evening when she gets home from work, and late night and the “wee small hours” for me – who as an “Old Age Pensioner” does NOT have to get up for work later that morning to go to work!
We talk about the things couples talk about. This can and does include politics but in the main, the focus is invariably on what each of us have done that day. For her it relates to a workplace activity that in the 1980s I was involved in – and incidentally was how I met my lady friend. This was studio photography which included fashion and glamour photography. In those days, she was a semi-professional and later professional photographic model. Today she works as a location manageress – a mature lady (she is 55) who as a former model manages a group of young women between the ages of 18 and 25 on location sets and deals with issues off set. This is a position that a male person (of whatever sexual orientation) is completely unqualified to perform.
Generally – nearly always – she is on set as a supervisor but on rare occasions, goes in front of the camera herself. In these rare circumstances – that are not mandates in her employment contract – she appears in group shots with more than one of the models.
This in fact happened very recently and forms part of the subject of this blog-post. The shoot in question was one where six models were on set wearing a version of a “garment” worn by the lady in the image heading this post. Whereas Miss Johnson wore a “dress” that “covered” the top and the lower halves of her body, the six models wore a version that can be described as a “skirt” – “covering” the lower half of their bodies. On this occasion, my lady friend posed in a copy of Miss Johnson’s garment in the centre of the shot with three models either side of her. She is indeed most fortunate to be still a viable subject for a glamour shoot at 55.
Our conversations are wide ranging and span a few hours. Currently a significant topic is my lady friend’s return to the UK due to the deteriorating health of her mother who now lives in the North Riding of Yorkshire and there sheer financial impossibility of her mother joining her in the USA a difficulty – caused by the US health care system – that extends to Moi.
We’ve talked of me moving to the States but a combination of restricted finances and poor health (mine) preclude it as a sensible or reasonable option. Then there is the issue of our shared time together. You see, she works for the same employer in Cincinnati, Ohio as she worked for in Torquay, Devon. There are big differences: She is paid a lot more and her money buys much more in terms of property than the UK. She works longer hours however and has shorter paid holidays.
This translated into more time together – at those times when I drove over to Torquay or she was working in Cornwall. In England and in Ohio, she spends much time in the gym – not a place that I care to spend time in these days! Then there is the issue of my cooking and her diet. I’m not the best cook and what meagre skills I possess are confined to dishes that on strictly off her list!
You see, when you reach middle age but are determined to keep as much of the body you had when you were half the age you are, an awful lot of hard work is involved!
Many subjects are covered when we meet in cyberspace. This of course includes my life in West Penwith. As a regular churchgoer this includes what goes on in the village where I live and the life of the church. One topic we talked about was the local “tradition” of celebrating Feast Days, a tradition more common in the Roman church than the Anglican church. The last feast service was of course on Sunday 29th June 2025. One thing covered was that St. John the Baptist is one of the few saints who has two feast days: one celebrating his birth in June (Sunday nearest 24th) and one remembering his death in August (Sunday nearest 29th).
One of my lady friend’s models is a Filipino – there being a tradition in the Philippines to act out biblical scenes in what often are gruesome and painful ways. The Filipinos are overwhelmingly Roman Catholic and the second feast day is celebrated by the Roman church and generally not in the Anglican communion. I make mention of this as our online communication can be joined by one or more of my lady friend’s models who sometimes come round to her house after work. This was the case recently.
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This indeed is the politically correct explanation for such events as “beauty pageants” and also the insistence of physically attractive slim women as fashion models – including lingerie and swimwear.
This “conventional” politically correct received wisdom is FALSE! I speak from first hand experience. You see, as a photographer who undertook commercial commissions to produce photographs to promote lingerie and swimwear, the reason why attractive and slim young women were employed was that the target audience demanded it! This target audience was female – not male! Furthermore, this had nothing to do with sexual orientation! The FICTION of male exploitation is a political ruse.
It is an established FACT that the audience for the “Miss World” contests screened British TV in the 1960s and the 1970s that were subject of protests from extremist activists was predominately FEMALE! Again, I speak from first hand experience! My mother, her mother (my gran’), and my aunt (Dad’s sister) were keen viewers of this pageant! ALL were possessed of a conventional sexual orientation.
The cancellation of beauty pageants after the 1970s (in the UK) is an example of what we are experiencing today in this nonsensical world where the comical Arthur Daley line “a person of the coloured persuasion” could be changed to “a person of the female persuasion” with literal practicality! That a vociferous and determined minority can dictate and override the wishes of the majority.
Verily, this is a case of the tail wagging the dog!