Helen Garner: What we say

I woke up early this morning with the Razor dribbling beside me and picked up the Australian Short Story edited by Laurie Hergenhan. In it Helen Garner has a pithy little story called What we say (originally published in Postcards from Surfers in 1985). Ostensibly about two women going to the opera to see Rigoletto, it describes the ensuing discussion with two male friends about the generalised difference in fundamental fears for men and women. In this case they nominate the fear of a daughter being sexualised for men, and the fear of violence for women. In amongst this talk there are some thrilling, almost throwaway, lines. She describes one of the men as: “His skin was pale, as if he had crept out from some burrow where he had lain for a long time in a cramped and twisted position.” Bookending this discussion is a short reflection on mothering teenage daughters – a wonderful counterpoint. It’s a sparkling, thrusting piece of writing. Now, twenty plus years later, where did Garner loose her way?