irumeur…

What makes a woman a lady?  Is it beauty?  Is it poise?  Is it intellect?  Is it virtue?  Maybe a lady must be all of these.  It is true that most girls want to be beautiful, but few strive for poise, intellect or virtue.  What is even more amazing is most girls today, don’t want each of these to be a part of who they are.

 

When I was a girl, it was after the whole phase of girls becoming ladies by receiving training.  This training would teach us how to set a table, how to walk, how to dress, how to sit, how to behave in front of a gentleman, all while expecting them to maintain their beauty.  Yet, they did not care if you learned math, or science.  A lady should excel at the piano, cooking, and running a household.

 

Today’s girl wants either beauty or brains.  A few want both!  Most are not concerned about poise or virtue.  Why have we lost some of our greatest assets?  Watching a lady who walks in beauty and grace while maintaining her virtue is elegance in her control.  Should we stop there?  Should a girl become a lady and forget the skills of intellect?  Yet, does this truly make a lady?  Is there something unacceptable about a girl who just wants to enjoy life?  Should she give up who she is to achieve a status coveted by the woman who came before us?  Must we search for perfection and lose ourselves in the stiffness of its demands?

 

I would consider myself far from the correct behavior of a lady.  I have lacked virtue, and although I have good balance and posture, I often allow myself to forgo and search relaxation and comfort.  As a girl, I did not covet intellect but free will and fantasy.  I wanted the self-determination to be and search who I will become.

 

Yet, through all of my independent nature, I still coveted becoming a lady of poise, beauty and virtue.  I wanted others to see grace and dignity while inside, I was a free spirit that roamed the woods and flew astride my horse’s back.  I always pushed the limits of life searching for my next thrill.

 

Can we become all that we want to be?  Can we maintain the poise of lady hood and still be free to expand our fantasies and drive toward our goals?

 

I believe every girl wants to be beautiful, graceful, dignified and true.  Yet, will we change to become the lady of history?  We will!  Not textbook perfection!  Not camera ready!  Not without passion!  We will become, I think……accepted by the grace, beauty and dignity of who we truly are.