I get very frustrated when people call me little girl, girl, young lady. It feels as if they are trying to take my power away from me... that somehow I am never old enough. I am plenty old to do whatever my heart desires and I take that very seriously.
A couple weeks ago I posted on Facebook how frustrated I was being called little girl and it was interesting to me how many women thought it was ok... or even a compliment to be called girl. That somehow Woman = old... and Girl = young. I never thought of the term woman having to do with age but maturity... knowledge... grace.
Little girl, to me, is non-sexual or sensual... the spirit is still being formed... needs to be taken care of... not independent. I don't see how being a girl would be a compliment. How are women suppose to become an equal in society if we are considered less than... or needed to be taken care of. Is this something that society has ingrained into us... that women are somehow less than and that should be a compliment?
Maybe it is from my past of feeling like I was less than... needed to be taken care of that it offends me so much now that I am stronger.
In 2006, I spoke at a school in Wells Nevada and a teacher there asked me to write a song about aging. She was having a difficult time with the whole aging process and how society tells us that being old is somehow less than. The next day I wrote Aging Gracefully and shared it at the community event I was speaking at in town.
Being Woman does not mean old age... and I believe in being proud of aging... knowing that you have lived and learned... the grace of the lines and lessons. Nothing is more inspiring to me than a woman who ages gracefully. I am proud to be Woman!
Great song..... Well done
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteLove the song! And the article is great, so right on. I also used to hate being called Little Girl, Young Lady, Kid, etc. I was called that until I was 40 I think. ha! Sometimes people say it nicely, but other times something in the voice always made me cringe. Usually when an man said it, like "young lady, I hope you know what you're doing". Or something to that effect. You said it very well how it feels to be called that. On a positive note, I was young looking all those years. Now I notice a change, like been told "older people usually like this...." about for example a certain event coming up. LOL. What happened once I turned 50? I went from Young Lady to Older Person seemingly overnight, or while I wasn't looking. :-)
ReplyDelete:)
Delete