Who gets to decide whether "Lipstick 101" or "Athlete 101" is more valuable? What kind of 101-girl are you? Click "comments" below and share your 101 tale!
I was having a mini-reunion brunch at my house yesterday of women in the local area who graduated from West Point. We're a constantly-on-the-go kind of crowd, so getting eight of us together all at one time was a small miracle.
We did some catching up and chatting about what we've been up to. No one in this group is still in the military and since getting out, we've all gone in a million different directions. Among us we had two lawyers, a Harvard business school grad, a graduate of the Kennedy School of Government, a teacher, a government military intelligence analyst, a small business owner, a government contractor, three moms, a budding author, an independent jewelry stylist/consultant, the COO for a charitable foundation...the list goes on and on. How could eight people do so much?! It was all at once inspiring and exhausting to think about how far & how fast this group had come since our days in itchy gray wool at the academy!
One of my favorite moments of the day (aside from the story of one girl who'd recently gone on a glass-blowing trip with her colleagues and created a horribly misshapen paperweight that was not at all appropriate for a work environment...if you get my drift!) was a comment by one of the girls about not having gone to "Girl School." She said she failed Lipstick 101.
Lipstick 101? How many women out there feel like they're in the same boat? Fashion and make-up aren't your thing. You feel like you somehow missed this class and therefore never got your "Girl School " diploma?!
The funny thing is, when I looked at this girl, I saw someone powerful, amazingly smart, and definitely feminine in her own way. I wondered who's yardstick she'd been measuring herself against to determine she failed Lipstick 101? Perhaps the owner of that yardstick failed Chap stick & Go 101!
The best thing about women is their ability to fill SO MANY ROLES!!! They are all different but equally important! Where would we be without all the women we know who are moms, coaches, sisters, executives, and friends. And where would we be if they weren't all so uniquely different?!
So this week's discussion question is about passing (or failing) the 101-series classes in "Girl School." Which 101-program track did you take? Lipstick 101? Athlete 101? Get it Done 101? What's the best part about being who you are...whatever "Girl School" program you graduated from?!
Society is so harsh on women, and it's so hard for many of us to not feel judged. Am I right?! I think women are evolving all the time so maybe I missed athlete 101 when I was in HS or college, but there's nothing stopping me from getting on board later in life. Right now, I'm taking classes in Lipstick 101 :)
ReplyDeleteYes women are evolving all the time! We witnessed some amazing history in the past year with the Presidential elections. Hillary Clinton and whats her name.. Sarah Palin. Two completely different 101 classes!! However, I see to strong females at the top of their game. Don't compare the two, just think about their different 101 subdivisions of powerful and political women. Sarah Palin may have seemed pretty worthless on the surface to most people, however she believed in family so strongly she put her dysfunction out in the open. She came conservative and fundalmentalist 101, but she was as big as Pat Roberson (700 club) in that 101 world. Hillary, very strong willed and somewhat insidious, but she is at the top of her 101 class. She comes from a class where there is no gender and a class that allowed her to be as stubborn as a bull. She might still be our first female president. While only 10 years ago she displayed another type of Tough 101, stood by her man during the whole Monica thing.
ReplyDeleteWomen are evolving all the time! I see it everytime when I work with my 12 year old soccer girls. They are amazing and have the tools to go thru lipstick athlete and geek 101.