The Power of Femininity

I'm on a roll with the gender thing. Today, as we pack boxes and scale down on our wardrobes for the move, I was thinking about what it means to be a woman and how powerful pure femininity can be.
First of all, I was thinking about historical figures. Queen Esther of Persia certainly didn't win over the Kings mercy by being a buff, in your face feminist asserting her rights. Nope, she won him over by serving him dinners. Granted, she probably didn't cook the meal- as she had servants to do that for her, she likely put on her best robes, pearls, perfume oils and looked gorgeous. Perhaps she gave the King a little shoulder rub while he dined in her chamber. This made him feel like big stuff in front of his right-hand man, Haamen.
Then let's look at the story of Abigail, she was a woman on a mission. Her drunken slob of a husband refused to repay the kindness of David and his men in saving Nabel's herds. David is outraged and bent on "killing every person who pisseth on the wall" (this means men- as that is not a woman's style) When Abigail gets wind of this, she acts quickly. Her servants rush around to prepare a feast, she puts on her best clothing and rides out to meet David and his men. Upon reaching them, she dismounts and falls to the ground before David in a submissive posture. She says, "My Lord, I know my husband is a fool, but please do not commit this atrocity. You can take your anger out on me. This was no empty sacrifice on her part, I honestly think David was blinded with rage, however, her beauty and humility tamed the beast in him. When Nabel heard that David was coming for him and that his lovely wife had saved his life, he had a heart attack and died. David was so impressed with Abigail, that he took her as his wife.
Ruth the young widow was a nurturer working to take care of her mother-in-law. We don't know what she looked like, but she was attractive enough to draw attention. Most of all, she was a courageous and honorable woman living in unfamiliar territory. She made a bold move by uncovering the feet of Boaz during the night and propositioning him to take her as his wife. She was not arrogant or prissy. She was not a pampered Diva. She was incredibly down to earth and Boaz found this highly attractive. It didn't take much persuasion for him to take her in marriage.
In recent history, Jackie Kennedy, Julie Andrews and Princess Diana charmed their generations with beauty and grace. There is nothing more attractive than a fit, well-groomed woman. These ladies weren't perfect, but had plenty of appeal without being cheap.

Now I can hear some of you say, well, culture has changed a lot. Here's a personal story. My Freshman year in college, I had an English Composition professor who was very passionate about his class. I was one of his top students and he seemed to favor me. Well, that is, until an error in the testing schedule caused me to miss my final exam. I called him when I learned of the error and a few other students missed it as well for the same reason, but he was LIVID and yelled at me on the phone. He accused me of not being serious about his class. When we hung up, I was in tears and called Jay who was my boyfriend at the time. Jay told me to dry it up and go use my power of feminine persuasion. Huh?! I had no idea I had such a thing! He said to put on my make-up, my prettiest, most feminine shirt and go down to his office and talk to him face to face in a humble, unemotional manner. I was unsure about this, as I'm a very non-confrontational person and didn't want to get yelled at again. However, I took Jay's advice. I did my face & hair, wore a pretty poet shirt, my best pair of jeans and shined up my boots. I didn't call ahead, I simply showed up. (didn't Esther do this once?) When he looked up, he had a very disturbed look on his face. When he saw it was me standing in his doorway, he softened a bit. "Come in". I was calm and in a soft voice, I re-explained what happened and pleaded with him to be reasonable and let me take the test. I told him how much I had enjoyed the class, reminded him that I had worked very hard the entire semester and asked him to give me a chance. By the time I finished my short little speech and stood up to leave, he had MELTED! He docked me several percentage points as penalty, but he let me take the test. I passed the class with an A-.

Ladies, could feminine persuasion be a very real thing today? Our softer side has a way of soothing even the hardest temper. In Japan, ultra-feminine Geisha girls were a soothing presence to men for decades. In today's society, girls seem to be unsure about who they are. We do not hold ourselves in high esteem and because of this, we bare our bodies and souls to people who are undeserving of our treasures. The younger girls don't seem to feel special unless they have a boyfriend. They go from guy to guy as if they're not comfortable with themselves as individuals. Some girls are so desperate- they'd rather be with a jerk and "put out" than be alone. Any guy is better than none-at-all.... right??? Also, it seems there is this trend that being a crabby user is cool. I've seen it on t-shirts: "Pamper me, I'm a princess", "All I Want is Your Money", "Look ALL U Want, but Don't Touch", "Bitchy is Beautiful", "Who's Your Diva?", "Shut-up & Feed Me Chocolate", etc.

For years, I denied my feminine side. I matured early-on which brought me unhealthy attentions from guys. Being a lady only seemed to bring abuse. So, to protect myself, I wore oversized clothing to hide my shape, cursed like a sailor, played sports like a boy- even had a spiky, flat-top hairdo one year. My mother was so horrified by this that she destroyed my school pictures! Perhaps girls like me were hiding their greatest strength because they were afraid? Studies on sexual abuse show that many obese women actually are using their fat body as a shield against unwanted advances. I went the opposite way, starving, purging & over-exercising to get rid of curves.

I don't think ladies should be teases, letting it all hang out for every Tom, Dick & Harry to feast their eyes upon, but I don't think we should be prudes in frump-wear either. Someone once said, "Clothes should fit snugly enough to reveal you are a woman, but loosely enough to show you are a lady." I agree. Though you'll probably never see me wearing pink with ribbons and high heels (hate 'em) I have embraced my softer side.

So, what do YOU think? Is there power and grace in genuine femininity??