The Hierarchy of Men

Yesterday, someone (Darla) noticed that I'd written on the whiteboard 'Hierarchy of Men'. She wondered what I meant.

Yes, it does sound intriguing, doesn't it? What could Unlucky In Love Middleagedteacher be telling a pack of Back-achingly Bored seventeen year old girls about Men?

'Girls.....if there's one thing I want you to remember in all the myriad things that I've taught you is that there's such a thing as a Hierarchy of Men. The Man at the Top, for example, Jeremy Northam shown in this photo in his role as Mr. Knightley in 'Emma' is  Such a Man. Perhaps Richard Armitage as Mr. Whatsisname in 'North & South' is another. But  Colin Firth as Mr Darcy is the Exemplar.

These are the Men you must aim for Girls. Don't accept anything less.'

Of course I didn't say anything of the sort. I was just ranting on about Men in 'Emma'. 

But as I was writing that little imagined piece of advice, it occurred to me that that was exactly the sort of Ridiculous Mumbo Jumbo that passed as Received Wisdom when I was young. Stuff like,

' You can tell the character of a Man by the quality of the shine on his shoes'.

But now I've started to think more about The Hierarchy. I can see hundreds of men, all standing on top of  each other's shoulders, perhaps with a slight lean to them, looking like A Human Leaning Tower of Pisa. 

Who would be placed in the middle? Maybe Reliable Chartered Accountants and Suburban Dentists. 

And what about the Bottom? I shudder to think.