from
The Magic of Women
by David Mamet
"Women, to me, are much more interesting than men, who run to type with a depressing regularity.
And there is seldom a male interchange free of invidious comparison. Who, each assesses, is wealthier, smarter, fitter, stronger?
Women make such assessments, too, but of the man per se, not of the man as a potential adversary. Perhaps this is why I find their company so restful.
Then, there is sex. Call me limited, but I still find it astonishing: that a woman would allow or desire me to do that...? This may be attributable to the sclerotic self-image described above. For, indeed, I have known men who take women's sexuality completely as a matter of course.
Many of these men have been that which an earlier age described as "successful with women."
This is not to say that I, myself, have not behaved boorishly, or even inexcusably, with women. I have, and, should I roast in hell, it will be with a sense of justice served.
But these men I write of were, notably, devoid of that sense of gratitude mentioned above.
I do not know whether their success was due to straightforward bluntness, or to a sense of relief on the part of their women. Perhaps to both.
Perhaps the men were as those Polynesian islanders of the Bounty Era who, sailors related, took sex truly as a matter of course. Perhaps these successful men were untouched by a sense of gratitude. Perhaps this freed them to act in a manner, finally, more responsible than my own.
In any case, my particular experience of women, neurotic or whole, has been of their generosity."
The Magic of Women
by David Mamet
"Women, to me, are much more interesting than men, who run to type with a depressing regularity.
And there is seldom a male interchange free of invidious comparison. Who, each assesses, is wealthier, smarter, fitter, stronger?
Women make such assessments, too, but of the man per se, not of the man as a potential adversary. Perhaps this is why I find their company so restful.
Then, there is sex. Call me limited, but I still find it astonishing: that a woman would allow or desire me to do that...? This may be attributable to the sclerotic self-image described above. For, indeed, I have known men who take women's sexuality completely as a matter of course.
Many of these men have been that which an earlier age described as "successful with women."
This is not to say that I, myself, have not behaved boorishly, or even inexcusably, with women. I have, and, should I roast in hell, it will be with a sense of justice served.
But these men I write of were, notably, devoid of that sense of gratitude mentioned above.
I do not know whether their success was due to straightforward bluntness, or to a sense of relief on the part of their women. Perhaps to both.
Perhaps the men were as those Polynesian islanders of the Bounty Era who, sailors related, took sex truly as a matter of course. Perhaps these successful men were untouched by a sense of gratitude. Perhaps this freed them to act in a manner, finally, more responsible than my own.
In any case, my particular experience of women, neurotic or whole, has been of their generosity."