“This, above all, to thine own self be true…”
November 17th, 2006 by sarah
Bri has hit us with the weekly quote:
Being powerful is like being a lady; if you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.
– Margaret Thatcher
Unlike last week’s challenge- which spoke to my feminist tendancies though the quote wasn’t really directed in that direction at all- this one, surprisingly, doesn’t evoke any strong female-centric urges in me, even though it came from one of the strongest females of our age. I’m taking this as a general statement on the nature of humans in general if they don’t practice self-restraint and self-awareness.
I have no doubt that Ms. Thatcher’s “lady” is, indeed, the very one that word evokes in our modern brain. Jackie O, Barbara Walters, or, hell, Ms. Thatcher herself- strong and maintaining an air of assurance and dignity (HA! There’s that word again) while being flexible, hospitable, and lovely. I am assuming that the person of power she’s got in her mind is much the same- confident and self-aware, without being overpowering or forcing themselves on those whom they have power over.
But it’s a fine line, the one between being confident and being delusional. How easy is it to step over from that place where you are confident in who and what you are into that place where you feel like you must prove who and what you are? I know I’ve been guilty more times than I can honestly count. And, in my mind, it’s when you step over that line that you cease to be a good example of whatever it is you are- or are trying to be, as the case might be. I’ve seen “bad” leaders. I’ve seen women trying too hard to be the lady ideal, and I’ve seen men trying too hard to be the guy’s guy- and it always comes off not-quite right.
So, I suppose what I’m getting at- maybe the “lady” or the “leader” in you (that’s the theoretical ‘you’, btw) isn’t the standard ideal. Who cares? When you’re percieved as the genuine article rather than the designer imposter, you’re going to get a lot more respect in the long run, and probably be happier, too. Maybe that ‘you’ isn’t powerful- but maybe it is. There’s a lot of liberation that comes with being comfortable in your own skin, and once you have that, you might wake up one day and realize that you were the good kind of powerful all along.
Why did I suddenly get an image of Hillary Clinton when you say “I’ve seen women trying too hard to be the lady ideal, and I’ve seen men trying too hard to be the guy’s guy”? ha…ha.ha….
having lived in san francisco, this brings to mind transvestites/transexuals. no matter how good they look, the key is in how they act. they overdress, always wearing tight clingy dresses. they swing their hips too much. and their makeup is pancake. basically, they overdo it, trying to look more female than female. basically, men trying too hard to be woman’s woman.