The Independent Woman: Do We Need a Do-Over?
By GalTime .com. Posted on .
By Marcus Osborne for GalTime
Would you rather have a relationship or a career?
If you’ve been a regular reader of StraightMaleFriend.com or if you’ve been following this column for the past year or so, you already know that one of my steadfast beliefs is individual independence.
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In other words: “Be honestly you.”
That simply means that when it comes to love, sex, dating and relationships, the very best advice anyone could ever offer is for you to be who you truly are, as opposed to what you believe people want/expect you to be. Sure you can (and many people do) fool the masses into buying into some image you’ve manufactured. Pretending to be “outdoorsy” when you’re a couch potato. Acting as though you love foreign cinema when you abhor the idea of reading anything more than the credits during your favorite motion pictures. Passing yourself off as less accomplished than the high-powered executive that you are in order to massage the ego of your latest date.
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I’ve long supported women going out and exercising their power in their communities, in the workplace, in the home and in the marketplace. Why not? You’ve earned it. You’ve gone to school, fought for your education, worked your way up the corporate ladder and established yourself as a pillar of the community and yet... you’re still unfulfilled. For all that you’ve achieved, there’s still a glaring vacancy on your life’s resume.
Unmarried and childless… and full of regret. Does that description fit you?
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I’ve made no secret of my deep respect and admiration for the woman who get out there and chase their independence, but on more than one occasion recently, I’ve had heavy conversations with women who harbor some real regrets about their life choices.
We’ve gone from a culture that once pushed the idea that women needed to stay at home, raising kids, cooking dinners, and pampering their husbands in order to society to thrive. In essence, women were considered domestic servants with benefits. With the rise of the women’s movement, we’ve reached a point in time where having women outside the household is not a luxury but in most cases, a requirement for the survival of families.
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