In a one hour period of watching network television, I have watched as women were referred to with a multitude of derogatory terms, going to strip clubs to watch women strip is represented as normal, and women attacking each other in an effort to gain attention. I am really bothered by the role that society, particularly male society, has given women. And women have made the mistake of accepting that role.
I was speaking with a dear friend this week as we discussed that the pressure that is felt by women to be sexy. Why not attractive? Smart? Educated? Spiritual? Cute? Lovely? Classy? A woman has value and should be shown respect even if she is not in patent leather boots with six inch heels.
A wonderful example of a lady is Laura Bush. She is an example of grace, intelligence, and beauty.
"With the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, less than nine months after assuming the First Lady role, Laura Bush found her visibility much higher and with more demands made upon it than she had initially assumed it would be. Scheduled that day to become the first incumbent Republican First Lady to deliver Congressional testimony to a Senate Education Committee, in the weeks and months that followed, she frequently spoke in public forums on techniques that adults could use to comfort children who were traumatized by the changes wrought by the attacks. As the U.S. undertook an invasion of Afghanistan to free it of the extremist Taliban that had overtaken it, Laura Bush met with Afghani women to hear their stories of the harsh repression the women of their country suffered. She discussed their plight as the topic of her radio address on November 17, 2001. It was the first time a First Lady spoke in lieu of the President during one of the weekly radio addresses usually made by the Chief Executive. "
Women, let us set a higher standard for ourselves. Let us be ladies and women of virtue. Educated, kind, strong, gracious, forgiving, and faith-filled.
“Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity.” - Margaret Nadauld (“The Joy of Womanhood,” Ensign, Nov. 2000, 15)
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