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| Audrey Hepburn Breakfast at Tiffany's--image is not my own *Holly Golightly is a silly socialite who learns life lessons the hard way in Breakfast @ Tiffany's. |
--Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762)
I was raised to be a lady. Not the fru-fru, silly, brainless kind of lady, and not the look-down-your-nose-at-the-rest-of-the-world kind of lady. And certainly not some kind of materialistic female fop...but a lady, a real lady.
A real lady is a strong woman who possesses class, decorum, intelligence, and strength of character even in, perhaps especially in, the face of adversity.
I am not always that kind of lady, but that's the kind of female I strive to be.
In a world full of Paris Hilton's and Kardashians, full of media that tries to teach our girls that trashy is classy and beauty is before brains, I want to show my daughter Audrey Hepburn and Hermione Granger and Marie Curie. I want to be the kind of woman that she can be proud of. I want to be a lady that she can emulate.
I want to show her that you do not have to resort to immature, classless, base behavior even when those around you are engaging in such foolishness. I want to show her you can stand out by not fitting in, and you can handle anger with class and decorum and maturity. I want her to know that it is possible to handle negative situations without stooping to childish antics and misbehavior.
I want her to know that real ladies don't wear short skirts with no underwear and flash their hoo-has to the paparazzi for kicks. I want her to know that real ladies don't get sloppy drunk and throw up in the bushes, and for the love of god real ladies treat their bodies like temples and if a man is to worship at your most private of altars then he needs to earn that privilege! I want her to know that real ladies don't take the walk of shame, don't have to dress like harlots to get male attention, and would sometimes prefer to READ a book over watching a movie.
Most of all, though, I want to teach her to love herself because even though I love her more than the whole world that means nothing if she doesn't love herself.
These are the lessons I hope to teach my child in a world that is increasingly contentious and hateful because in this hateful world loving her makes me a better person.
The picture your using is from Breakfast at Tiffany's and in that movie she(Audrey H) starts of on the wrong path, marring men for money and breaking hearts. She was a socialite like Kim K and Paris H but not a slutty as those two but not a good example for young women really.
ReplyDeleteJust an interesting parallel tho I am sure accidental it made me think a little bit.
Any child you raise will be blessed dear ♥
I know what movie it is from. I chose it because she went from trashy to classy by the end of the film (if I remember it properly). I thought it exemplified the point of my 'life lessons'. I want my daughter to learn these lessons the easy way--not the hard way like Holly Golightly in the film. I love "Breakfast at Tiffany's" by the way :)
ReplyDeleteOh me too, one of my all time favorites ♥ Yep your daughter is ALREADY blessed ;-)
ReplyDeleteAlso Holly finally fell for her neighbor Paul when she ran out of rich dudes and realized he was a keeper. She spent the night with him before she realized she loved him and the next day (when drunk) was talking about marring some other rich guy after her original mark married someone else. I watched the movie a total of 5 times LOL
ReplyDeleteI love that movie and it was considered quite risque in it's time -the world was not quite ready for Holly Golightly ;-)
I adore the lesson in the movie , great story to learn from.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakfast_at_Tiffany%27s_%28film%29
Thank you. I've watched it a few times myself. I'm seriously considering it for the tot's Halloween costume this year lol ;)
ReplyDeleteAWW that would be precious ♥ Someday we should watch it together ..have a girls movie night!!! xoxo I have it on VHS somewhere..need to get the DVD ASAP ♥
ReplyDeleteI know who this is ;)
ReplyDeleteI think as mothers our actions speak volumes, I know you will show your daughter how to respect herself and stand up for herself. I think girls need to know what they are worth. We live in a society that objectifies females and assigns them a value based on cup size. We need to teach the next generation of women to fight against that by demanding that we be recognized for who we are as individuals.
ReplyDeleteThank you, and I agree. I think we have to teach our girls to value themselves for who they are and not what they look like, but it's increasingly difficult to teach them that with such negative media circulating so frequently.
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