"When I Have A Brand New Hairdo..."

With my eyelashes all in curl,
I float as the clouds on air do,
I enjoy being a girl!

Okay, granted, that's about as anti-feminist a song as one could quote for a "What's Great About Being A Woman" contest, but on days that I feel extra pretty, I can never help but hum it to myself.

Y'all, Travis is taking this SO seriously. He's sprawled out in the middle of the floor with a printout of your answers (I printed each one without names so he wouldn't have any sort of bias) and is making notes and generally being very studious about the whole thing. I love that he's taking this so seriously - he knows how much Chanel Noir Ceramic means to me, and he wants to get it right. I think he's also (secretly, of course) really enjoying reading all this stuff - he knows what he loves about women, but I think it actually intrigues him to read about what WE think is so great about us.

So while we're waiting for the verdict.....

I want to "enter" my own contest. (I don't win, though.) You know what I think is spectacular about being female? Options. Choices. Goodies. Thanks to the incredible strides made by women far more tenacious and strong than I am, we women today have so much power and so many choices. I love the regular old girl perks: if I wake up looking a bit rough, I can add paint to make myself pretty; if we're going out for dinner and fine dress is the order of the evening, I have way more choices than a man would; I get to wear better jewelry; paint my nails; wear my hair long without catching hell for it; using products and things that smell beautiful....I mean, just the superficial perks are spectacular! But beyond that, I can do anything any man can do - I could go to any school, do any job, have any opinion, accomplish any goal. The pay might be different, the ceilings may be tougher to break - but it's getting better every day, you know, and it's only more rewarding to achieve when it's tougher. We don't have total equanimity yet, but it's only a matter of time. I get to participate in anything - any activities that are seen as traditionally female aren't off limits, and if I participate in activities that are seen as traditionally male, by and large men as a whole seem to be pretty impressed and thrilled by the whole thing. AND we are able to empathize, be strong, laugh until we cry, cry until we laugh, and bring another life into the world.

Honestly, I can't believe men aren't BEGGING to be us!

"...Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels."

(I just asked him how he was coming along and noted that he appeared to be taking this very seriously - he said, "Hey, these women took the time to really put thought into this and I owe them my utmost attention." Do you just LOVE him?? And then he looked at me suspiciously when I was typing and said, "You're not saying anything about that, are you?" Noooooo....)

He's got it down to four. It's hard - all of the answers were pretty great, and entirely accurate. (I, too, love wearing OPI "I'm Not Really A Waitress" on my toesies! I'm sure giving birth is pretty awesome too, I just haven't done that yet...I can only speak to the nailpolish issue from experience at this time.)

***Extended Commercial Break***

OKAY! We have a winner, and a declaration of, "Don't ever do that to me again. Make me pick numbers again next time." So you all gave him a hell of a time. Thirteen beautiful girls stand before me....but I only have one photo in my hands. Wait, I'm not Tyra....

Winner: Valerie!!!! Congrats, Valerie - this is your good karma for having an insane-o sale on faboo sock yarn not long ago! (And yet I managed to keep all my money in my wallet.....for now, anyway.)

So congrats to you! I'll be emailing you....tomorrow. For now, I'm exhausted from waiting up for the verdict. And I have to finish a load of laundry so I can go to bed. (Yay womanhood.)

(Oh, and Valerie? Thanks so much - now Travis has this bizarre delusion that I'm going to put on a short skirt and build furniture. Could you just do me a quick favor and leave another comment letting him know that the two activities are mutually exclusive? And, uh, that I myself don't actually build stuff?)