Summer of the Skirt

I'll probably end up writing some more about NST and the past five weeks soon, but here are some thoughts that I noticed about this summer in relationship to skirts. That's right, skirts.

I've never really been the kind of girl that was much into skirts. More than that, I used to never really be the kind of girl that was that much into being a girl. I know that must sound kind of odd, but for most of my life being a girl was not exactly the most appealing thing in the world. There are a lot of reasons for this, and I'm sure any psychologist would have a field day with trying to figure out why. But let's look at two issues specifically.
If you think about it and put all things into consideration, there are a lot of things that are thrown out there about gender that cause a lot of confusion about boys and girls, men and women. Let me go with what I know best. Trying to figure out men is difficult enough to begin with. I think that, out of observing media (movies, TV, magazines, etc), women have a lot of pressure to look as thin, sleek, and beautiful as possible... in fact, to look beyond these things. This kind of infatuation with beauty does have a legitimate root: women want to know they're beautiful. The problem arises out of the fact that society at large does not have a rudimentary definition of what "beauty" is. The fear of the Lord is the most beautiful thing a person - man or woman - can have. Unfortunately, not everyone sees it that way.

What's interesting about it all, is that during the Renaissance, beautiful women were characterized as voluptuous. They had a little more junk in the trunk, with a tire to spare if you will. Maybe that's painting a different sort of image for you, but basically it wasn't wrong to be a size 16, or even a size 20. Were they beautiful? Absolutely. But perhaps I'm more biased towards this image of beauty because I could never attain today's media-tradition of beauty even if I wanted to. Generally speaking, if you're not built to be a size 2, it's very unhealthy to be a size 2. I have a hard time with this sort of body issue because going to the mall to buy clothing can be a nightmare. A lot of the really 'cute' clothing won't be found in any size that fits right. Who knew having curves would be almost like having a curse? Another extreme that media throws out there is that beautiful women throw themselves out there physically.. You've got so much showing there's nothing left for the opposite sex to be even curious about.
Another issue that I think is somewhat fueled by society is the confusion about what a woman is; the gender confusion issue. While I'm all about the women's rights movement, what I'm not about is treating women as if they ought to be men. Women don't think like men, women don't naturally act like men. I might have gotten a lot of confusing messages growing up, but it seems like being a woman is less valued than being a man - and not in the same way as it was back in the day. For me to act like a girl, to want to wear skirts, to want to be pretty, to want to have children and a family, and to want to be treated generally different than a man seems like a crime. That doesn't mean I don't want equal pay and it doesn't mean I don't want to vote. It doesn't mean I think of my gender as lesser. But what it then comes down to is the question, "What does it mean to be womanly?"
Could it be that part of it just has to do with accepting the fact that men and women are fundamentally different? I have two X chromosomes and a man has an X and Y chromosome for a reason in God's good creation. I think it's a grave injustice to both of the sexes to deny that. We were made the ways we were made for very good and awesome reasons.

I realize now that I've kind of gotten off on a tangent. Let's bring it back around to this Summer of the Skirt thing.
I realized while I was at summer training that I wore a skirt more often than I ever had before. Long, flowy skirts ... It's strange to me, and part of that strangeness could just have to do with the fact that it was unusual for me and I enjoyed it. Now, part of me has to wonder if I enjoyed wearing skirts because of some of the men at staff training. I noticed I recieved more compliments when I wore a skirt... things like, "You look nice today," or "I like that skirt." Funny how quickly you can pick up on those kinds of things when you're not used to it. It's not as though they were hitting on me (praise the Lord), but they were sincere compliments. I wonder if it's a travesty that men don't compliment women this way as often. Maybe that's why it's so meaningful when a man my own age says I'm pretty. It's like a precious jewel of truth that the Lord gives through them... and you want so hard to believe that it really is true. It's a rare glimpse of how God sees women.

There are certainly aspects of my personality that totally contradict the stereotypical 'girly-girl' things. For instance, I love hotwings and know I can down 60 in one night (which is not as great of an idea as it sounds, by the way). I also don't get all squealy or freaked out about "gross" things like frogs, bugs, and eating things off the ground. I'm sure some people wonder why I'm not dead yet. I also love to romp around in the woods, get my hands messy with art stuff, and other things like that. Over the past year, however, I've found myself adopting some girly qualities... this summer just added to the process of "learning how to be a girl."
For instance, the color pink used to be something I abhored. I used to hate it when my girlfriends would say something about me was cute. Now, pink is growing on me as an acceptable color and I'll be thankful if one of my friends says something I have is cute.

So, with that all said... I think that part of that may also have to do with the fact that this past year left barely any room to look nice. T-shirts and messy paint pants were found on my body most of the time. I suppose you could say that I've been hungry to look nice. Maybe the whole experience is just a part of growing up and introducing myself to the world of being a college graduate. In either case, this was a Summer of the Skirt and they're a more integrated part of my wardrobe now as impractical as they can be at times.

Those are my thoughts for now. Love and applesauce-
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