Hysteria (2011)

During one of the many Literature classes I worked my way through, there was a reference to the historical idea of "hysteria" -- an ailment affecting women that caused a wide range of symptoms (nervousness, agitation, cramps, etc.) and sometimes required the drastic treatment of a hysterectomy -- YIKES!!

So, when Hollywood decided to present a period piece, I couldn't miss it!  They took some artistic license with the actual, historical facts of the matter. Dr. Granville, the inventor of the electromagnetic vibrator, hadn't originally intended the devise for the purpose of female genital massage, but the film has him saving his aching hands from treating half of London (the female half) with the prescribed treatment of the time.

("I always start with a good bit of musk oil with a bit of lavendar"...Dr. Dalrymple.)

The "R" rating has everything to do with the context of the film.  The good doctors have no idea they are inducing what we modernly refer to as an orgasm.  They believe they are inducing a "paroxysm" (or seizure) that forces the uterus back in the right position causing immediate relief of all of their patients "symptoms".  The procedure is done with the women fully clothed, under a curtain.  The camera is focused on their faces and the ticking clock.

In the end, the doctor's daughter Charlotte, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, hits the nail on the head saying that  the only thing troubling the women of the city is that they are married to dimwitted men who are either too selfish or too careless to make love to their wives in a satisfactory way. (There really are a few laughs in here!)

This period piece addresses several other historical points of interest for women's rights.  In the end, I was glad that they chose to make it a love story.  Women, in general, don't want to do away with men completely, but they do want the opportunity to live, work and thrive as a partner.  I'm not sure the suffrage movement or women's liberation has done much to bring us closer to that point.  But, I appreciate the historical nod at one thing we don't have to go through anymore.

Meaning...I can be hysterical and it has NOTHING to do with my the state of my uterus.

Flash Dance Hair

This morning, I woke up with flash dance hair.  Big, curly, wild and brown.  My hair, like my life, is never the same.  Sometimes, that's just me getting adventurous and shaking things up... like that one time I thought I'd go black for my birthday and found out that black is never temporary.  I say "shaking" it up, but even that really isn't necessary. My hair won't do the same thing two days in a row.  It's so obstinate in its originality that I've regretted any time I've ever gotten a hair cut intended for a single style.  It just doesn't work out.  Sameness and status quo do not go together with me.  I've learned a lot about flexibility and taking each day as it comes from having hair with a mind of its own.  I really have to wake up prepared to handle anything.  I need a plan and a contingency plan.  I need parameters of just how relaxed and/or professional my hair needs to be that day and a bundle of tools to get it there.  But, I don't like to waste my time on my hair.  Managing my hair has become an exercise in quick and creative thinking and I do it on a deadline.  I also regularly stand out in a crowd or become anonymous as people who should know who I am don't take the time to see my features -- only my hair.  Who knew hair that declares its independence daily would be a window into human psychology?

I wonder what it's like for people who have one hair style their whole life.  Are their opinions limited, their judgement exclusive, their day as dull ... as their hair?