FEMME FATALE
It’s quite risky for me, a man, to write the Editor’s Note on such a sensitive subject. Feeling this burden of responsibility, particularly towards our female readers, I have decided to quote the most celebrated women of all time whose individual thoughts create the collective wisdom on the subject of the feminine character.
Audacious. “I am not afraid. I was born to do this.” – Joan of Arc
Self-sacrificing. “I have already joined myself in marriage to a husband, named the Kingdom of England.” – Elizabeth I
Exacting. “I leave it to posterity to judge impartially what I have done.” – Catherine the Great
Inquisitive. “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” – Marie Curie
Coquettish. “Fashion is not something that exists in dress only.” – Coco Chanel
Adventurous. “If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” – Katharine Hepburn
Categorical. “One is not born a woman, but becomes one.” – Simone de Beauvoir
Humble. “Love begins at home.” – Mother Teresa
Steadfast. “If you want anything done, ask a woman.” – Margaret Thatcher
Sincere. “Hollywood’s a place where they’ll pay a thousand dollars for a kiss, and fifty cents for your soul.” – Marilyn Monroe
Modest. “Don’t call me an icon. I’m just a mother trying to help.” – Diana, Princess of Wales
Responsible. “I only answer to myself and God.” – Cher
But even these imperative characteristics articulated by ladies in power do not reflect the depth and breadth of the female character, including that of an Armenian woman. Therefore, “Cherchez la femme,” as once wrote Alexandre Dumas, pere. “Look for the woman, but seek her within the woman herself! Because even the most fatal woman is an invitation to happiness (Charles Baudelaire), because, “I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical reasoner,” (Sir Athur Conan Doyle), and because “A good woman’s arms round a man’s neck is a lifebelt thrown out to him from heaven” (Jerome K. Jerome)… And for the closure: a manly secret by Victor Hugo: “It is often necessary to know how to obey a woman in order sometimes to have the right to command her.”
Raphael Hakopjanian, Editor-in-Chief
Yerevan: Actual and Virtual
