What is a woman's role in society today? Where do we go from here when we graduate? Do we turn into soccer moms or career women, or can we have both? I know that I contemplate these questions everyday of my life as the end of my college career looms in the near distance.
Ever since the beginning of the women's movement it has been necessary for women to decide what "hat" they need to wear. I believe this decision can be one of the hardest of our lives. Often this decision is one that many come to regret.
The media has often tried to give us answers and assist in the decision making process, but in the end has only led us back to a male-dominated, patriarchal society. When will women truly be portrayed for the strong beings we are and not always as having to be looking for the perfect man to complete our lives?
For decades, television shows have been trying to demonstrate the strong woman out on her own in the big bad world, but they show her living a lonely life without a man. The Mary Tyler Moore Show was one of the first to break onto the scene with a woman at the helm. Although she had her own apartment and a career in a male dominated work place, the one thing she always lacked was the love of the perfect man.
In the 1980s comedy, Who's the Boss?, Judith Light played the role of Angela Bower, an obsessive, career driven woman who missed out on love. Tony Danza's character, Tony Micelli, moves in to clean her house and fill that void.
Ally McBeal came into vogue in the late 1990s and showed girls they can be career women with mini skirts. Ally even had some crazy quirks to demonstrate that she was as normal and messed up as most of society. However, Ally has the character flaw of needing a man to complete her life.
Now, for the new millennium, Sex and the City is attempting to portray four liberated, feminist career women. Once again they run into the trap of not having love in their lives. Sure they can talk about sex and relationships in a frank manner, but still every week the girls meet for brunch to complain about men and their failure to commit.
It sickens me to no end that women are constantly being classified as weak, little flowers who cannot have complete lives without a man. Women of our generation have grown up in families of baby-boomers, where our mothers experienced the sexual revolution and took an active role in defining their futures and ours. Now it is our turn to take advantage of the doors they opened, and walk through them to whatever dreams our hearts desire.
Often women who choose to go the route of motherhood and family life are considered antifeminist and believed to hold back the achievements of others. It was my understanding that the whole point of the sexual revolution was to give women choices. If a woman chooses to make her family her life and career, she is not holding back the movement, but instead reinforcing the goals first set forth.
The media knows it has an influence over people's thoughts and self-perceptions. It is time for the media to realize they need to recognize realistic women, who are just trying to find their place in the world -- not a man.
As we go forth from this institution of higher learning, it is crucial to remember we make our own destinies. Our lives are not defined by the media or a man. If you want to be a career woman living in the fast lane, go for it. If your goal is to raise a family and be "barefoot in the kitchen," take pride in your choice. Just remember to follow your instincts and your heart to make the best life for yourself.
