Women are the loving, giving, and nurturing sex. We are kind and caring of others and are the least selfish people on earth. While these qualities are argued to be genetic, much of it is learned behavior. Our parents and society has taught us to be good little girls or-in other words-to be ladies. We have ultra strict rules to follow-much stricter than our male counterparts. But lately, women have taken on masculine properties. On one hand, some of us are having casual sex, becoming more and more unfaithful in relationships, becoming heavier drinkers and smokers, and have even started a new trend of making out with other women. But on the more positive side, we are earning more at work, owning our own businesses, and becoming the head of our households.
It’s been a long time since American women have pushed the envelope to such extreme extent. Let’s take 22 year old, Natalie for example. She’s been featured on Oprah and The Tyra Banks Show, and caused a stir because she was auctioning off her virginity online. Her highest bid at the time was 3.8 million dollars. Natalie expressed to the audience that this was a form of feminism and female empowerment. Many people in the audience, and I’m sure by some at home, disagreed and felt like her choice was more degrading than empowering. We all know that selling your virginity is not common. We’ve heard of prostitution, but we never quite heard of this. And maybe that’s why it sounds so crazy. Are we reacting this way because it’s wrong and immoral, or because it’s not common or traditional?
I’m all for female empowerment. If there’s something that’s going to change the way women view womanhood for the better, I’m all for it. Although I’m not an advocate selling your virginity, I am an advocate for saving yourself until you’re old enough to even make such a grown up decision. I believe that we are focusing on the wrong thing here. We are more focused on the fact that she’s selling her virginity, than the fact that she is an adult, and she did outlast the average American by saving herself until 22, and she is legally going to take part in this act in Nevada where it is legal. People aren’t seeing that she is being responsible through all of this.
Some argue that this is not a good model for young girls, and that this may inspire young girls to put a price tag on their virginity. But some may also argue that the way most Americans, particularly American women, lose their virginities in less than ideal circumstances as well. These circumstances aren’t quite good models for girls either. Not many people are good role models for these girls when it comes to this virginity thing. Women should lose their virginity for whatever they believe their virginity is worth. Rather it is a great time with a crush or for 3.8 million dollars. It’s your body, and it’s your prerogative what you want to do with it.
I side with Natalie on this one. You may call me a femi-nazi for feeling that way, but this is a form of modern day feminism. It’s important for women of all ages to see women making choices for themselves and taking control of their lives despite what we’ve been raised or taught to do by society. We need to see it in all forms-working moms, female business owners, you name it. Anything that will empower our girls to take control of their lives, we should be endorsing or supporting it, not shooting it down just because it’s not a choice we will make for ourselves.
The American female community has lost its sense of freedom of choice. We want to live and play by “the rules.” We don’t want to be different, we don’t want to be risky or push the envelope. The way a lot of women in our country live and think is similar to the way women lived when we had no rights. We’ve made dramatic progress in our country with providing equal rights to all, but we act as if there’s something terribly wrong with a woman exercising all her rights. Did we forget about “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”? Does that mean anything to us today?
Young women of America are trying to teach us something. Feminism isn’t about being a lady, it’s about being a woman. Playing by the rules is the way we were taught to be when we were girls. Society teaches girls how to continue to be girls for the rest of their lives. But at some point you have to decide to be a woman mentally, not just physically. Notice the emphasis on the word decide, meaning exercising your freedom of choice-something we have been robbed of by our own peers. Being a woman is about being strong, wise, maybe even making less than perfect decisions, but still coming out on top by working hard, pushing and fighting. Being a warrior, being a femi-nazi.
