Divamensch

Julie Harr and I came up with the two pinnacles of human achievement back in the early 90s, the Diva and the Mensch.

 

The Diva has a big personality, lights up a room, carries her own personal spotlight.  The downside is she can become a bit tiresome.  Can we talk about me for a change?

 

The Mensch has a big heart, is generous and well-liked by everyone, including children and dogs.  The downside is he can be a bit of a martyr, if left unchecked.

​

The fun of these two archetypes is deciding who, of your friends and family, is one or the other, or both.  Or neither.

 

A word about gender-specific pronouns: I use “she” to describe the Diva and “he” to describe the Mensch for two reasons.  First, I think it’s important, in terms of gender equality, to use both feminine and masculine pronouns.  Second, I use those specific pronouns for those specific words because they’re the gender of the word itself: a Diva historically refers to a woman, a Mensch historically refers to a man.  Either of these terms (or both) could be applied to a man, a woman, or combination thereof.