In a pondering thought of what it really means to be wild in Thoreau's idea I thought of myself as a woman. I decided that if a woman was to truly be wild she would be nothing that she is expected to be in our society. And as I decided in the shower, that I was not going to shave my legs because I didn't feel like it, I thought of so many things that women are supposed to do and be that inhibits them from wildness. I agree that in today's world things have gotten much better, but in the past-say the 1950's-things were much worse.
Things that women in American society are typically responsible for
-shaving (Women can't have facial hair, leg hair, arm pit hair, excessive arm hair, back hair...you know what I'm saying.)
-obedience to husband(cooking, cleaning, sweeping in pearls)
-being thin
-not getting pregnant when their not supposed to
-being graceful
-being the "damsel in distress"
-being weaker than men
-being extremely polite (no farting or burping)
-bearing children
I'm not really a feminist, but I do feel that it is more work for a woman to be wild. It might be due mostly to the socially accepted hygiene standards, but still.
3 comments:
don't ever shave again.
take a walk on the wild side.
A,
You should look up the maenads--truly wild women--ancient followers of the wine god, Dionysus, who took part in some pretty far-flung festivities and rituals. Look 'em up and let me know what you think. There's a project proposal in this somewhere. And yeah, I'm pretty sure the maenads didn't shave.
Funny enough, I actually thought about growing a beard for the whole semester, but then realized that Melanie would never let that happen, so gave it up without a fight. I have other fish to fry...
I'm thinking of Lou Reed this morning...
M
Well you know Amanda, this morning in the shower I thought, I want to shave my head. And I did. I shave my legs pretty regularly.
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