feminine & masculine

The sharp snap of a heel on concrete will turn a man’s head.

Snap! Turn.

Bells ringing, dogs salivating.

When he says, “I like your dress” what he really means is – well, he doesn’t know what he really means, except that the swish of a skirt and the curve of her calf have made him feel… different. Different from before she came in the room and different from her entirely.

It’s Me Tarzan, you Jane – simple and inarticulate – her femininity as mysterious and compelling for him as the breadth of his shoulders is for her. Or the uncompromised way he uses space.

She touches her neck, maybe her earlobe. His hand rests on his jaw. I know that I’m watching what amounts to a bar room dance.

Snap! Turn.

Science has exposed this choreography, dragged it out into the light and explained it by measuring the width of his pupils, the number of times she tosses her hair — almost ruining it.

But only almost.

The smooth, shallow dip of her collarbones. The density of his limbs. I also know that very best mysteries transcend their explanations.

Snap! Turn.

29 comments to feminine & masculine

  • excellent post. but what i really came here to point out is how, the way my internet window is sized, the word “collarbone” lines up to your own collarbone in your picture. and it’s a fantastic collarbone at that. not that i like girls or anything. and not that there’s anything wrong with that.

  • from the other side of the globe

    awesome post! Another thing not ruined by science – the way you blend perfectly ur imagination and ur words.

  • Di

    Hmmm, I like what this suggests…

  • ap

    It’s pheromones, baby, pure pheromones.

  • FANTASTIC.

    Write a book already!

  • Kat

    Snap! Turn. – This conjures up a very strong and interesting mental image. And yes, collar bone lines are very interesting….

    Kat

  • Dan

    //When he says, “I like your dress” what he really means is – well, he doesn’t know what he really means, //

    Yes he does. He means “I like the way your dress hints at what’s underneath it.”

  • Aw, come on, Dan. Don’t go making it all dirty.

  • Wow. Awesome post.

  • Dan

    Sorry ’bout that; wasn’t meant to be dirty.

  • Rob

    Great post Heather. I love the way you are able to conjure up visceral feelings in your writing. I can hear that crack/snap – another beauty!

  • Rocco Yamamoto

    Slut!

  • Unbelievable use of visuals. It drew me in so much I actually read the thing at least five times.

    For a mystery transcending an explanation you do a pretty damn good job of explaining it.

    Absolutely awesome!

  • This is my very favourite of all of your posts!!!!

    Nice job Fish. :)

  • lulu

    my boyfriend, among other men, will completely discount a woman who wears heels, as they obviously don’t care for their bodies or themselves. Don’t torture yourselves ladies. ouch!

  • Alisa

    amazing writing!

  • SOOOoo F-ing true!

  • Heather…. You just made miss my boyfriend :)

    God that post was beautiful.

  • Janis Ian 17

    As beautifully poignant as the post, unfortunately, it is only true with respect to some women….. but the rest of us will keep trying.

  • Michael

    Walking to the bus last night I was behind a woman for a couple of blocks who had a walk that made her as switch in just the right way. Like a cat switching its tail. But with a very different effect.

    I was also thinking the other day: thank you, women who wear pinstripe pants. It gives the contours of your ass better definition and gives my eye something to follow as it traces those contours.

    Ok, turning off the “perv” valve now.

  • Michael

    Also the description of the snap/turn and the earlobe and the jaw make me think of those commercials where they have people doing the tango. It has a kind of snap!turn to it.

  • Rocco Yamamoto

    Dude, “Michael” is a horndog.

  • Interesting that you should mention walking, as the part of Chapter 4 I just posted includes the heroine walking briskly through the halls of the Yale library and getting the attention of the young man she eventually, well, you’ll have to drop in and read some.

  • Michelle

    Absolutley beautiful. I have thought of it the same way as a ‘dance’ but you but it in to an amazingly visual story. Well done

  • i love how everybody just ignores rocco now!

    good post. i have heard plenty of guys say they love the snap! of a heal, for my it’s just seems too authoritative or powerful. i suppose it’s no suprise that as a result it holds no interest for me.

  • I lurve this post.