Strong Woman vs. Damsel in Distress - ACHTUNG Series

For as long as I can remember I’ve desired to be a strong, thriving and independent woman.  Dependency was as scary and foreign to me as an alien.  While, as a kid I read classic stories of “damsels in distress” like Cinderella or Rapunzel, the protagonist (main character) never seemed to resonate with me.  They were fun stories to read, but in the back of my 5 year old mind, I was thinking “Yeah, right! As if I’d wait for my knight in shining armor to save me…. I’d find a way to build a ladder to climb out of that tower.”

Every day I am thankful for the women’s movement. It wasn’t so long ago women were believed to be intelligently inferior to men. The women’s movement, has made it possible for women to leave the kitchen and join the workforce (if they so choose).  Post-secondary education has no longer become a place of finding a husband, but rather a place of learning.  Today, more women are exploring their non-domestic interests… and yet there is a balance to this equation.  I have a lot of male friends who would prefer to have a housewife.  Likewise, for the longest time, I wanted to marry a house husband.  (While there have been some claims of their existence, I now realize they are largely a myth.)

I believe it takes an equally strong man to be with a strong and assertive woman.  Just as girls learn about the “damsel in distress”, boys are also taught the value of being a hero and prince charming combined.  A powerful woman changes the fairytale story for a man, and so the look of being “saved” takes on a whole new meaning. 

It cannot be an easy task for a man to walk in the shadow of a strong, impressionable woman.  For the few men, who are able to do this, they demonstrate the essence of being a strong man. 

Damsel not in distress … but, just trying to rule the world,

Nicole