I'm Just a Girl

...and no, this isn't the beginning of me quoting some fabulous line from "Notting Hill" - which, in all its smarm and "Spikeness" is still one of my favorite Sunday afternoon movies.

I have to admit up front that this post is almost 100% due to my early morning reading of CJane's "Manifesto Female" - a bit of a surprise to me, to be honest. You see, I'm pretty staunchly non-religious and CJane is a flag-waving Mormon. I'm not an atheist per se - I believe in all kinds of divine things but I do struggle (because I was trained as a scientist? because I was raised by a new-age mama? because I don't like the fact that religion is too often used as an excuse for hatred and fear of the "different"?) with the literal interpretations of writings I believe to be mythology of the most wonderful kind (and no, this is not my way of saying that religious writings are "lies" or anything like that - they are important stories to illustrate moral guidelines we could all benefit from connecting to in a meaningful way) used to divide us. I digress...

Anyway, now that I've been out of the traditional workforce for several months, I do struggle with the role of "just" being a mom and the way that role is viewed by our society. Maybe that (plus a desperate desire for a little class and modesty among young women - you wouldn't believe what some of the girls and middle school wear) is what has driven my interest in reading Mormon bloggers.

I just typed and deleted a whole bunch of stuff about why I wish I would have put my ego aside and chosen a career that is more traditionally female (teacher, nurse) and how those are some of the greatest and most noble professions but I went a different direction in part because of a need to be "more" than that. Now that I've had some kids go through school and been witness to some pretty heroic and tough as nails nurses I'm not sure there is anything "more" than either of those professions - except, perhaps, being a parent.

My favorite statement in CJane's post is "And in my experience, this is also the hardest part about being a woman. There are forces at work designed to turn woman against woman in an effort to completely destroy the massive amount of good we can do when united." How true is that?

I'm sure you've noticed this is completely stream-of-consciousness. Last random thought - how do we take on this role of "just a mom" and still make our daughters proud of us and have our sons respect us (and women in general) when society paints a picture of the successful woman as equal parts wife, mother, sex kitten, super model, CEO, Mother Theresa, coach, interior decorator, and while we're at it... comedian. No one (NO ONE) can live up to so much. I'm doing well when I keep my approval rating above 50% in 3-4 of those.

Thanks for sticking with me on this one. Go read CJane... she's been working on her post for weeks and it's far more coherent. In the mean time, if you see me and I look like I just rolled out of bed, realize that my hair might not have been one of the 3-4 subject areas I hope to pass in today's grading. Maybe breakfast was good today. Perhaps there was child-borne emotional turmoil last night. Could be that the dog peed on the laundry when her cries to be let out went unheeded and maybe (just maybe) the washing machine has captured more than its fair share of attention. Or maybe I just don't give a shit today. It happens, you know?