American girl in Italy, 60 years later

Er.... who's "we?"

Okay. I was angry. You and Setanta were cool as a cucumber.

You just can't help but be contemptuous, can you?

If someone wants to know how I feel, they can ask me.

Maybe I was angry, maybe I was cool as a cucumber. Maybe I was irritated. Maybe I was amused.

Point is, you don't know so don't presume to speak for me.

This is the key. They probably ignored her or just looked at her the first time around. The SECOND time the young guys decided to give a naughty romantic performance. Probably the guy with the tie said something naughty and the guys in the scooter were laughing like crazy.

Back to your mission?

No way would I associate the word romantic with that photo.

Unfortunately, you fail to recognize the boundary of where you end and I begin. As long as you keep crossing the line, I will continue to point it out.

You have children. You should be thinking about them. Don't waste your time thinking about me. I am serious about my family, but not about A2K.

<sigh>

I never got the troll vibe off of you before, either. Did I just never catch your attention before?

I take A2K as seriously as any of my entertainments.

Well, whenever an A2Ker asks me if I am serious, I tell them that nothing I say is serious.

That leaves you a great out for acting like an ass and not having to feel guilty or responsible for it, eh?

Whatever.

I am still reading from where I left off, but am posting because I don't want to forget my thought, which is that I wish Fbaezer would weigh in on this. As most know, he is from Mexico City. He studied in both Italy and Spain and is a pretty observant guy. No, not studying there in 1951, but I figure closer to the time those girlfriends of mine who were in Florence in the days of the famous flood - complaining about all the pinching - than I was in my later visits, when I didn't notice much of this stuff going on. Not that he would just solve this for all, but that I'd be interested in what he might think, re the photojournalism, and the latin-country behavior.

I am still reading from where I left off, but am posting because I don't want to forget my thought, which is that I wish Fbaezer would weigh in on this. As most know, he is from Mexico City. He studied in both Italy and Spain and is a pretty observant guy. No, not studying there in 1951, but I figure closer to the time those girlfriends of mine who were in Florence in the days of the famous flood - complaining about all the pinching - than I was in my later visits, when I didn't notice much of this stuff going on. Not that he would just solve this for all - we have differing takes - but that I'd be interested in what he might think, re the photojournalism, and the ogling behavior, then and now, in those countries, in his time there.

I can't manage to get to the present end of the thread without expressing continuing agreement with Mame.


I also agree with JW's comment some pages back that Green Witch said much the same thing in one of her sentences. Won't look that up, maybe their posts aren't precisely alike, but I took them similarly myself, that experiences can affect one's take on things (in ways others may not share). That's long been proven (no links), though experience doesn't necessarily color what one sees, just that it can. Experience can affect in more than one direction, too. I, with my experiences of both a bad time and love of photography, took the woman's face as Mame first expressed, a woman walking passed men she was not interested in. I can't remember when I first saw the photo, but a relatively long time ago. I wouldn't say her face was haughty, but moving-on-through above it all, and not scared - and I'll admit to a frisson of what Craven was referring to in the other thread, a kind of putting the men in their place. Just a frisson, but there. Let's say that I understood his point of view.

I'm fine with Chai and others finding the photo creepy; they don't need to change to become me, which is good because they would naturally and rightly refuse, which would be such a downer. (But I like to give my opinions.)

Aack, sorry for posting doubly. The second one more complete re nuances of what I think (except I didn't mean that Fb and I think differently as I don't know what he thinks, but the obvious, that a lot of us are thinking differently from each other.

Adds, on further thought, I think I've overemphasized that the ogling business is primarily from latin cultures. I don't know that.

These were young immature adolescents 18-22 just after a horrible war. They didn't know any better. All they probably saw/knew growing up were rapes by soldiers or dance hall girls. Their impression of romance would not be right for a decent girl but with their background quite understandable. They were probably 'play acting' for the photographer as they realized the model was deliberately walking around them a second time so they decided to give an obscene show.

Okay, it's me asking a question again. DrewDad and wandel both stated basically they are not serious about A2K. I don't think I understand what you mean. From what I have seen some really great friendships have been forged on A2K.

I like A2K. I like most of the people. But when something irritating happens, I try to keep in mind that it doesn't really matter. These threads are a transitory experience. I was only joking about "archiving" and "future generations."

(in my opinion, IMO, speaking only for myself, I think, compare to a rhorschach test, everyone's opinion is equally valid, if this unsettles anyone I apologize in advance)