I agree with Sister Madly-- that it's all about choice. Thank goodness we now HAVE that choice. As someone on the tail end of the baby-boomers, I went through not having that choice for much of my life.
(Warning.. here comes my feminist rant!)
I went to school when gym class was separated-- when boys got to play sports, and all that was available for girls was cheerleading.
I wasn't allowed to be a "paperboy" because the law said boys had to be 11 and girls had to be 18.
I was constantly told all of the things I "couldn't do" just because I was female, rather than all the things I "could" do.
I hated the mold girls were expected to fit in to-- so I rebelled. I became a tom-boy.
When Title 9 came about, I was the first girl on the boys track team at my high school. I was the first girl to take "Weight-training For Men" in college (since there was no weight-training for women courses) and.. btw.. I got an "A."
I was in the martial arts when it wasn't considered "feminine" to be involved in a contact sport. I was forced to wear a white stripe along the length of my belt, simply because I was a woman in judo. White designates novice, and the thinking then was that a woman could never achieve the full ranking of a man. In order to compete in judo, the AAU mandated all women wear that dreaded white stripe.
Oh yes, and I had to do twice as much as a man to get my black belt-- yet I still was forced to wear that white stripe telling the world how inferior I was. Thank goodness that rule was abolished in the 1980's.
I'm in broadcast journalism, and continually get frustrated with the double standard in TV. Women have to be thin, gorgeous and young, while men on TV can be fat, bald and ugly. Ever see a weather woman who looked like Al Roker?
I get tired of the magazines that ruin women's self esteem by constantly telling them how to lose weight, how to get a man, how to keep a man, and why they should get fake breasts. Yet men's magazines are all about cars and electronics.
And don't get me started on "Hooters." Why is there not a "Peckers?!!"
Do I believe in marriage? Yep-- if that's what you want. Personal choice.
Do I want to get married? Yep-- if Mr. Right comes along, but so far, I've only met Mr. Wrong. And, like Valkyre, I'd rather be single-- (but with 900 dogs and birds rather than cats) than marry just for the sake of marrying. I don't need a man to define me.
Do I want kids? Yep-- but only if he's willing to get pregnant!
And James... I'm curious-- how does a woman "act feminine?" Does that mean we don't sit on the sofa every Sunday watching football and belching?
