You would think in this day and age that attitudes would have changed towards the single woman but they're as archaic as ever. In fact, I think it's getting worse. Strong minded woman are often referred to as butch lesbians who just need Mr Right to come along and convert them - as if that's all it would take. A single woman at a bar is on the hunt and if you throw single parenting into the mix, you're not only on the hunt but completely and utterly irresponsible in your parenting duties as well. I see many men sitting at bars. Not once do I assume their on the hunt - they might be but it just never enters my head. I still reckon a lot of those men are fathers as well. So why aren't they sluts and drop dead dads?
Why can't a woman have a male friend? Or more to the point, only have a so-called genuine male friend when there is a more permanent male in her private life? Why does that even have to be legitimized?
And it's not just men who think this, it's women. A single chick at a dinner party has the power to disrupt the equilibrium of boring vanilla talk. It's like she's become part of the menu, something to devour because, God forbid, her sexuality is not governed by the permanency of a male figure on her arm. In other words, a woman is only "safe" when there is a man guarding against the leakage of her sexual prowess - oh, what, you don't think women have that? They do and it scares the crap out of people!
I only ever get to feel this claustrophobic when I sense the subtle innuendos leaking into every day life. God forbid, I am a single woman and with that, comes an innate ability to sniff out the stench of gossip-mongers - those weird outburst from people who are usually sensible; dribbling shit that means nothing but comes with a stab in your back feeling; the looks of condemnation (at what, I ask?); and the utter cowardliness of those who do not possess the balls to confront me with their thoughts. Passive aggressive. Yes, I think that's what it's called. Still, a coward though.
And I say this...
Tough shit. I am the owner of my being. I possess it. No one else. It cannot be bought, bartered, badgered or bribed. You don't like what you 'think' I'm doing, have the balls to confront me about it. Or is the real truth, you can't confront me cause it would only tell me what 'sort' of person you really are?
