When As Women We Are Told How To: Look, Act, Think & Work

LOOK LIKE A GIRL

ACT LIKE A LADY

THINK LIKE A MAN

WORK LIKE A BOSS

That quote has been circulating Pinterest lately and with it limitations upon women screamed at me from it. As women how often do we erroneously limit ourselves into being how others believe we should be? How often do we allow others to pigeon hole us? Maybe we don't want to be the round peg in a round hole. Maybe we don't want to color inside the lines but instead outside of them. How often are we subscribing to the idea that others should dictate how we behave, how we should dress, how we should act and simply live our lives? 

Look Like A Girl

Modesty is important, yes. This is more about expectations put on women to look a certain way. How often do we restrict and box ourselves in, perhaps without even realizing it? Who came up with we need to "look like a girl"? And what exactly does that entail? Does looking like a girl mean wearing a dress, red lipstick and heels? Does it mean curling our lashes and wearing pearls with a prim matching sweater set? If you want to do that by all means do but is there something wrong with a pair slacks or jeans and a baseball cap? When I was in my twenties and working for a law firm of good 'ole boy attorneys they expected me to wear skirts to the office... I bristled and rebelled. I wore slacks every day I wished to and still accomplished my work just fine and still looking professional. Does a skirt have anything to do with my work being completed? Nope. Maybe instead of inflicting rules and regulations upon women that we must each "look like a girl"... perhaps a better philosophy is "wear whatever you want". When we embrace wearing what we want we also embrace individuality and the freedom of living authentically instead of succumbing to society's imposed ideals. 

Act Like A Lady

"Act like a lady".... in of itself is a facade... the quote itself includes the word "act"... why must we act? For whom are we acting? For men? For the benefit of other women? And what does "acting like a lady" constitute? Only wearing dresses? Not chewing gum? Not wearing too much eye makeup? Is it acting sweet and syrupy to someone's face only to drop the "act" the minute their back is turned? Is it appearing like a doormat so that you don't come across as outspoken or (gasp) as a woman who stands up for herself? Is it holding a designer handbag on your arm with perfectly coifed hair and carefully constructing an act of sipping tea without a single drop marring your outfit... yet once home in the privacy of your own den cramming as many chocolate truffles as you can fit into your mouth? (Ahem... personal experience I have committed the latter... quite frequently, enjoyed it immensely and highly recommend it). Who is making up the rules that constitute whether or not you are indeed "acting like a lady" or very much not? Instead perhaps we need to drop the "act" and move on toward just "being"... as in "be yourself". With being yourself we can most definitely bet that it comes with much less stress, less pressure and less worry about what others are thinking of us.... which incidentally leads to much more freedom to enjoy our chocolates to our hearts content like a kid in public. 

Think Like A Man

Think like a man.... come now. I know. First of all... so little space and so little time here. Let me begin by asking specifically which man? Because I believe we all need a point of reference to adequately tackle this one. If it's Jesus here they are referencing... hands down without a doubt that's a stellar choice as we know but otherwise it may be dicey territory we are entering. For those of you who have solid male figures in your life you are beyond blessed.  For those of you who have a father or husband whom you can go to for advice, counsel, and aspire to emulate the qualities in a man you hold dear and admire, then by all means go for it. The man in your life may very well be someone who you desire to think like. For the rest of us that are sitting here with smirked looks on our faces like "Uh, huh.... yeah right. I didn't get the goody bin... I got the bottom of the barrel over in the corner with the muck in it." In light of that latter barrel perhaps the best thing to do is to narrow it down to "just think." 

Work Like A Boss

Why would we aspire to "work like a boss"? What does that do for us as women but limit us and create restrictions consequently causing us hit our head on the glass ceiling? If were going to "work like a boss" shouldn't we just chunk that idea and go straight to being the boss? Ladies, we can aim higher. As women we can do so much and contribute great work in this world that will not only help others but glorify God and all His goodness. When we push the self imposed limits we've subconsciously set for ourselves or allowed others to set for us, we can not only do great things we can set the bar higher by empowering our daughters to do great things too. 

WEAR WHATEVER YOU WANT

BE YOURSELF

THINK 

BE THE BOSS 

© gps-gracepowerstrength.blogspot.com ~ 2013 

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