Not less than

 

I often find myself annoyed at some of the women in my past and today I think I realized why. My daughter put a blurb on social media saying not to be afraid to be yourself: silly, crazy, funny, etc.

The problem is that many women are not silly, crazy, funny, etc.!

They only act that way when they are trying to impress someone with their craziness, silliness, humor, etc. and it comes across forced, sad, and ridiculous.

There is nothing wrong with being yourself, but not when you define yourself with false standards.

When I was a girl and a young woman, women were supposed to be dainty, dumb and prone to be excruciatingly ridiculous. It implied that they needed to be taken care of and supposedly loved more because of their ineptness.  They were mostly seen in pairs, or more, practically joined at the hip, because being alone was dangerous. I remember throwing chess games in junior high and doing dumb things on purpose. It always made me feel embarrassed in the long run because I knew it was a ruse. And not a very good one.

If you really are that way then I suppose we should accept you for who you are. Perhaps feel a little sorry for you, or try to help you out in some way, but NOT emulate you, or imply that you are the real norm.

I belong to a local women's club and one of the things I really love about these women is their lack of artifice. They are wonderful women who are mostly independent, capable and truly themselves. They are not all alike, they sometimes make mistakes, but they do not define themselves as less than in any way.

They are simply good women being themselves.