On being a lady

I have bursts of being a lady, but it doesn’t last long. -Shelley Winters

I love this quote. For some reason it conjures up a vision of my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Voss. I considered her to be the epitome of grace and femininity. She had perfected crossing her legs in what I think of as Doris Day style. You know…the one where your thighs are straight and parallel but inexplicably somewhere about at the knees your legs are suddenly entwined and laying perfectly flat against each other, and your ankles neatly crossed.

I tried all year to mimic that pose…unsuccessfully. Is it any wonder that I now identify more with irrepressible Shelley Winters?

Today I wonder if anybody wants to be “ladylike”. Or if the denigration tomboy is still used. I’m thankful that Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan worked together to drag American women (some kicking and screaming) into the equal rights movement.