Gender Fatality

"It is fatal to be a man or woman pure and simple: one must be a woman manly or a man womanly." - Virginia Woolf.


The artistic mind needs to be two things: honest and androgynous. It is this androgyny that gives the work of art its universality - its potency. This doesn't, as Mrs Woolf might suggest, only refer to the gendered mind, but a mind that can encompass all difference; a mind that is susceptible to the infinite idiosyncrasies of humankind as a whole. That is what sets Shakespeare apart, for example; his ability to understand and manipulate a multiplicity of human characteristics. I wish I had a mind like that; I yearn for a mind like that.


What I do know is that I have a mind that is attune to the written word. I often find it difficult to express myself in verbal conversation and yet I find it incredibly easy to sit down and write a coherent (if not self-indulgent) blog post. I've said this to countless people and, funnily enough, they often tell me the opposite; that their minds are naturally attune to the spoken word and the pursuit of any kind of stylistic writing is insurmountable. Funny how life goes, huh?


So, why is this Woolfian (wonderful word) idea of the androgynous mind such a big part of my own theory of what makes an artist? Because it is only through understanding others that others can understand the artist. Shakespeare had this talent and so few others have. I would argue that Bob Dylan had it; indeed, still has it if anybody ventures to listen to him anymore. It is a gift that comes along maybe only once in a century but it is undoubtable nonetheless. It is the one attribute that all of the great artists share no matter what their discipline or movement. They all found new, exciting, innovative ways to understand the human condition.


Another very artsy post. The next one will be about death or something to make up for it.

Happiness to you, reader.
Mike.xx