A delicate balance

“True strength is delicate.” — Louise Nevelson
Photo: Su Leslie 2013

del·i·cate

adj.

1. Pleasing to the senses, especially in a subtle way: a delicate flavor; a delicate violin passage.

2. Exquisitely fine or dainty: delicate china.

3. Frail in constitution or health.

4. Easily broken or damaged: a kite too delicate to fly.

5. Marked by sensitivity of discrimination: a critic’s delicate perception.

6.   a. Considerate of the feelings of others.

      b. Concerned with propriety.

      c. Squeamish or fastidious.

7. Requiring tactful treatment: a delicate situation.

8. Fine or soft in touch or skill: a surgeon’s delicate touch.

9. Measuring, indicating, or responding to very small changes; precise: a delicate set of scales.

10. Very subtle in difference or distinction.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/delicate

For as long as delicate flowers grow alongside roads and buildings, hope lives in my heart.
Photo: Su Leslie 2013

Rather like “eerie” which was the subject of yesterday’s post, delicate is a very nuanced word.

I’m a robust, and fairly buxom, woman (Reubens-esque on a good day) who has grown only gradually from feeling like a totally klutzy child into an adult  comfortable with, and able to celebrate, my body. I have dark eyes and (once upon a time) dark hair, and could not – under any circumstances – be described as delicate.

But delicate is a word used often to describe my gender; and in literature, art and popular culture, delicacy has been regarded (by men at any rate) as a desirable trait for women. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons for my very ambivalent relationship with the word.

There are of course some images that ” delicate” connotes with which I am comfortable; pale, fragile blooms, handcrafted glass art – or a parent holding their newborn, muscles straining to achieve a gentleness perhaps unknown.

“The heart of a man’s like that delicate weed, Which requires to be trampled on, boldly indeed Ere it gives forth the fragrance you wish to extract” — Edward G. Bulwer’Lytton.

 This post is part of Ailsa’s Travel Theme: http://wheresmybackpack.com/2013/11/01/travel-theme-delicate/

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http://drieskewrites.wordpress.com/2013/11/02/travel-theme-delicate/

http://shootngo.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/1698/

http://starryiskies.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/travel-theme-delicate/

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http://ileanapartenie.wordpress.com/2013/11/02/travel-theme-delicate/

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http://lonnalisawilliams.wordpress.com/2013/11/02/delicately-eerie-woman-haunted-by-man/

11-1-13 Travel Theme – Delicate