This wonderful article came through my Facebook news feed today and I felt the need to express a few thoughts on the subject.
You may not wish to read the entire article, although it is not what one would describe as a “heavy going” read, oh no, on the contrary. This article is full of stunning photos, in fact it’s probably more of a picture book format making it a wonderful addition to the coffee table. But I digress.
Let’s say you just don’t have the time. In which case I will try and get the gist of the article into a few sentences, add some of the photos and give my thoughts. So here goes…..
In the Sahara there is a nomad tribe called the Wodaabe where the men line up in a form of beauty pageant once a year and are judged by the women. We’re talking about macho males, hunters and cattle-herders by trade who will spend a year getting their outfits ready!!!!
I have to admit that in some of the photos it was hard to figure if I was looking at a male or female.
What absolutely tickles my senses about this is the fact that it goes to show that the male of our species does have the ability to take pride in his appearance, is able to flaunt his ‘finer’ side without it impacting on his maleness or without him being homophobic in any way.
If we look back in history, starting with medieval times, men’s clothing was quite out there with doublets, tights, breeches and cloaks. Then into the 16th century, well, that’s when the real flamboyance began with a right royal rivalry going on between King Henry VIII and Francis 1 of France. Now let’s be honest here, there was no doubting that it was a male dominant and blood thirsty world at that time and yet they had no problem dressing in silks, velvet, leather, lace and embroidery made from gold and silver. Even their hats had feathers and shoes had cut-out decorations. Nothing was too over the top at all.
All this showiness started to decline in the early 1800s when men decided that it was too feminine to be seen wearing anything too outlandish. Although the 60’s tried to re-invent the colour and flash, it never quite made it back to that “peacock” style of a forgotten era.
Oh well, at least there is one tribe out there who continues to adhere to nature and flaunt their beauty, prowess and wealth to the ladies …. giving the women the power to choose.
And life is more brilliant because of it.
Ha! it also means that I’m not forking out to the oil industry for gasoline, my Trev does take a bit, but he’s such a good Rav, old, like me, but still “got it”. Plus, yes there’s a plus for Trev, there’s not the wear and tear….the service won’t be so frequent either – save more!
