Is this an issue raised too high?

[Richard Tarleton]

On the subject of height, that infamous blogger Lady Effingham noted that (sorry, not being au fait, I forget all the names) an actress (just to be clear) was saying how good it was to be acting in a television series/serial with men the same height as herself. One was Jeremy Irons and the other Tom Hiddleston, one of whom was fractionally shorter than her. The three of them, all 6-footers, were pictured together about the same height.

But when the inevitable paperback was published with all three on the cover, the actress had had about 6 inches taken off her height (Why? Lady E fumed).

What seems distasteful to me about both stories is that it seems to be men manipulating in various ways what they see as the appropriate image for women.

This referred to The Night Manager, said actress being Elizabeth Debicki. Hugh Laurie, not Jeremy Irons

See here et seq.

[french frank]

This referred to The Night Manager, said actress being Elizabeth Debicki. Hugh Laurie, not Jeremy Irons

See here et seq.

Yes, Hugh Laurie I think he was the one who was very slightly shorter.

Artist's licence?

[vinteuil]

Artist's licence?

... I think we may just be being inappropriately harsh here. The book cover shows the relative importance of the characters in the book - Hiddleston as hero and Laurie as villain are more 'important' than Debicki as Laurie's arm-candy/Hiddleston's squeeze. (I think le Carre is never particularly good with his female characters; they never believably occupy central roles). Interesting however that Olivia Colman doesn't figure on the cover at all - but there cd be good aesthetic reasons for that in that a trio of figures may look better than a foursome.

I see the relative sizes on the cover more as how you might view a renaissance altarpiece - the importance of donors, patronal saints, divine figures being reflected in the size and prominence they are accorded.

[jean]

Today's Times Diary - TMS -

Germaine Greer is a feminist but she can see, noting a recent news story, why wearing high heels can be empowering in some jobs....she recalled working in Tulsa and going to a bar where the waitresses were wearing little more than killer heels. "Couldn't you talk to your employer about a more rational outfit?", she asked one. "Honey", the waitress said, "it's how I get tips".

That doesn't necessarily mean Greer thought it an unproblematic way of ensuring you were decently paid - the word empowering is the diarist's, not hers.

Remember that she also famously excoriated Suzanne Moore for wearing what she called fuck-me shoes, and I don't think that was meant to approve Moore's choice of footwear.

[french frank]

... I think we may just be being inappropriately harsh here.

Yes, Lady Eff's husband said she was making a fuss over nothing, too

[vinteuil]

Yes, Lady Eff's husband said she was making a fuss over nothing, too

... that, fr: fr:, is cheap.

I am not saying that lady Eff is making a fuss over nothing. I think her point is interesting. I indicate that there may have been reasons behind the bookjacket designer's choices other than belittling women. I think my point about the relative significance of the characters' roles is also interesting.

[french frank]

I think my point about the relative significance of the characters' roles is also interesting.

It may be interesting. But do people on book jackets routinely have their height diminished to reflect the importance of their role? I think there might be a point if the statuesque ED had been pictured standing some way back, and therefore appeared smaller (as Hugh Laurie appears smaller than Tom Hiddlestone. That would have conveyed 'lesser importance' (to me, at least).

[Flosshilde]

Possibly, but to the viewer of the book cover that subtlety probably wouldn't be apparent. Just that she was shorter than the men.& if the female character really is less important to the story, why wasn't she shown in the background, using perspective to reduce her height/over-all size in comparison with the men?

[jean]

I think the issue of added height is a only very small part of it.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I think the issue of added height is a only very small part of it.

Indeed - and the issues of how women in general are perceived by a significant number of the public was considered in creative ways in this programme:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b079rzqc/redefining-juliet

... part of the "Shakespeare Season", the socio-political considerations it raised were of greater interest and value to me than the "Shakespeare Studies" aspect.

[Serial_Apologist]

#40 - Thanks ferney - I missed that programme.

[vinteuil]

I think the issue of added height is a only very small part of it.

... a depressing item in today's Times - the revelation that in France no female writer has ever featured on the curriculum for their literature Baccalauréat.

Quite extraordinary

[jayne lee wilson]

Empowerment is so over....http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...aning-feminism

"High Heels".... it truly depends on how high they are, really.... I've a load of 3-inch, slender heeled boots and sandals, and still like wearing them when I go out, pull them off when I get back...but if had to wear them all day they really would be the curse.
Footbound, broken of foot and spirit.

They can still feel like fun, energising, make you move with a toss of your mane, a clip and a dash...& some outfits look much better with a bit of ground-lift...
But I never succeeded in keeping my feet for long in anything over 5"... those works-of-art (some were a gazeworthy enhancement to the bedroom floor) usually went back.
I don't think I damaged my feet, despite sometimes wearing my beautiful new shoes to the point of pain when I'd just got them home......

Wear what you like when you want. Fight any employer giving out sexist orders, whether ties or heels or no shorts for men in a hot office...
But let me enjoy my heels without a feminista-twitterstorm too...

[french frank]

Why, I do believe my old gardening boots would have passed muster (if heels were supposed to be 2"-4" high). Just a few millimetres short:

[jayne lee wilson]

Long ago, in a galaxy far away....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfbZg9vUZY8

...whole layers of cultural & psychosexual analyses implicit in that one....