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Tanka #6: Train girl

Perhaps you can tell by the post title, but this tanka was inspired by watching the film, Girl on a Train, which was surprisingly good, so I'm sorry I didn't read the book. Laurie Penny has spoken about seeing an advert which had a beautiful woman with a tear running down her face, that's what I think of when I see that iconic image for Girl on a Train. Laurie points out that you would never have a picture of a man crying which was supposed to be beautiful, and it's a sign of how messed up our patriarchal structures are that a crying woman can be seen not as a person in distress, but as a pretty thing to be appreciated. Because of that image of the beautiful haunted woman, I had avoided Girl on a Train, but obviously it's way more complicated than that (although seriously, would it kill them to occasionally use an actor who has at least seen a pie?).

You might have noticed there's a wee gidget at the side of the post (on desktop) with an Instagram feed from the Tanka Project which is now up and running, so if you're on the 'Gram come follow along here. If you only view this on mobile, I'm sorry you miss the Instagram pics in the sidebar, but you too can follow my accounts on Insta: @caralmckee is me and @tanka_project is all about the tankas.


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