I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I haven't written in a while. Ya, it's true, just check on the monthly log directly to your right. It's been almost 4 months. Crazy, no?
The crazy part is that I honestly thought I was only about two weeks behind. Whoopsies...
Of course, you know me, and I would only be here typing to you now if I have something of the utmost importance to say. I would surely never ramble on and on about random items - things like my Mickey, or how Jackson has a new bowl cut. Definitely not going to tell you about the 10K I'm running this weekend, my current time standings and the frustrations that go along with a strained calf... Mom's visit this weekend, signing a new lease on an apartment, or the latest bet that could result in a new tattoo (not on me, because I know my Braves won't let me down). No, no, no, only important stuff here tonight.
So, what's eating Cindy Lou Who?
Women!
Geez, ain't that the truth? Mmmmhmmm.
I read an article last night that has really just got me all wound up. Please feel free to peruse said article here: Said article
For any of my single lady friends around my age, and really maybe just any of my lady friends in general, I think you will see my immediate frustration with the content of this piece. This is what I get for opening a Fox News article in the first place, I really should have known better anyway.
Essentially, modern society, at least the one that I live in has spent so much time and effort in teaching women to focus on embracing their individuality and discovering who they are in order to ultimately be better wives and mothers should they one day chose to go that route. At least, that's been my major take away. We have time...in theory. Patience is a virtue.
But now, there seems to be a new message, maybe it's retro chic vintage, like a used clothing store that infers that women have to set aside marriage and children should they chose to follow career paths. And surely prioritizing careers is not really an option but a causation of modern thinking. A woman chooses career over embracing marriage. That's a lofty assumption to put out there, IMHO.
But alas, the piece that really grinds my gears is not so much the message itself; we are all entitled to our opinions, but instead the mixed messages that women send to other women. As if there is only one route to take and that must be the chosen route for all women. As if we are all one broad category of person. And according to said article, I've already missed my time to find a husband. And since I am supposed to embrace marriage and not focus on a career...where exactly does that leave those who don't follow this "sage" advice?
Most of my girlfriends fall into the 25-35 demographic. And the big difference between these single friends and the married ones is that we all identify ourselves as 20s and single. It's a breed, it's a specific descriptor, and one that I think is vastly misunderstood and over analyzed. We are a group of women that aren't necessarily prioritizing our careers or choosing not to embrace marriage, but we are just a group of gals trying to do the best with what we've got. Some of us are recovering from heart break, learning how to invest wisely, purchase property, train for marathons, maybe even just trying to figure out how to get our dogs to stop peeing on visitors. It's not some major life choice that we made that has lead us to this infamous destination.
We didn't find a husband in college, and that's ok. We didn't find one 5 years after, and that's also ok. Because you know what? When we do find one, we will have years of Facebook history to help us figure out what we do and don't want in our wedding photos and how we will and won't make our baby announcements. (Assuming we haven't all sworn off Facebook by then...who knows, maybe Facebook won't even be around by then!) There's nothing wrong with us, so please stop asking what is. Moving into Q4 of my 27th year, I feel better than ever, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. So, suck it.
The stigma that comes along with being late 20s and single in this society is...bullshit...there I said it. We live our life based on what Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda have taught us over the years of late night TV. We wake up, we go to work, we have a drink, we work out, we bitch about men, go on bad dates, meet great men, and nothing is wrong with us or where we are headed. And some days, it's easy to forget that, but in the spirit of women giving advice to other women....I won't do it. We all have to make our own path and it's not on anyone else to tell us how to do it or make us feel bad for doing it differently.
That's what I will hopefully get to tell my daughter someday, and what I wish someone had started telling me a long time ago. So before I get any closer to a girl power rant, which is not my intention here at all, I digress. Some days, we ladies just want to be left alone. When we talk about gender equality, it's not in relation to sexual escapades or job compensation, it's in terms of pressure and judgment. Can't we just be left the hell alone like men? Let's write some more articles about grown men who still play video games or call their mothers 5 times a day. Let's spend more time judging men who can't match their socks together and think it's ok to take a girl to Taco Bell for a date, because those things aren't ok and there probably is actually something wrong with them, which is why THEY are single. Spend some time judging them and making them feel bad for a while. What's their window to find a wife?
In the meantime, I'll be on the couch eating Spaghetti-Os and watching FRIENDS reruns and listening to some Martina McBride..
CLW out.
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