Dress Up

This video is one of my personal favorites, for a variety of reasons.  For one thing, the movie West Side Story (from which the background footage has been “borrowed”) played a very powerful role in my formative years.  Growing up in a rough neighborhood (albeit, in Chicago, not New York), I could relate to the circumstances surrounding the central love story in the film.  And I think that I was simply surprised by the fact that a movie could be made about a world like mine, rather than an elite world that I might never inhabit . Beyond that,  I loved the music and the dancing.  In fact, I was given the soundtrack album as a birthday present, and I learned every song by heart!

Moving on to more general points about the video:  I love the fact that it highlights the roles that women are expected to play:   one must handle the domestic chores (ironing) but also assume a role in a man’s work world (shirt and tie).  All the while, a woman is expected to be pretty!