And is it any wonder so many people have a skewed vision of reality?Originally Posted by Lydia Hamilton
My father was a remote, irritable man who left home when I was aged 10 without saying goodbye to me. My uncle was even more remote and although he showed me occasional kindness, and I wanted desperately to be like him - tall, handsome, rich and successful - he might as well have been a movie star. As for the actors, I was very impressed by Tony Curtis and Roger Moore in The Persuaders- two playboys who formed no permanent relationships and swaggered around the world hitting people, driving very fast and drinking large quantities of champagne.
While I have done my best to emulate these latter qualities, apart from the hitting people, and I have managed to have several long-term relationships, and to own my feelings and emotions, I feel like what growing up I've done has been despite the early male influences in my life, not because of them.
Today it seems many young people ignore the father and uncle and go straight to the actors for their role models. When you look at the popularity of day-time Australian soap operas and re-runs of Friends, it's hardly surprising that narcissism, conceit, superficiality and plain stupidity govern so much of young people's decision making.
That many young men wear make up and dress androgynously is taken completely for granted- after all, it's what so many pop stars do- and as a result crossdressing is not the 'thing' it was for previous generations. I feel sure that within a generation it will be as commonplace as divorce and single-parenthood have become now.
