I.W.S. - Do you have it?
IWS...you know what that is? My niece has a theory. I stole this (with permission) from her blog. She's 23 so you have a frame of reference when she talks about "my generation". It actually gave me a good laugh. Women have been making these observations about other women forever it seems.
Women aren’t always much better than the guys. Lately I have noticed a lot about the women in my generation and have found myself mind-boggled, annoyed, and frustrated. My frustration stems from being a woman myself and having completely different morals and ideals, thus creating conflict. There appears to be an epidemic sweeping across the women of my generation. Again, not all women, perhaps not even most, but those who are part of this epidemic stand out, and give us all a bad name.
What is this epidemic? It’s called I.W.S., or Infantile Woman Syndrome. Symptoms include, but are not limited to: aching arm from holding hand out, extreme laziness, incessant whining, pouty face tendency, water works on command, and low threshold for pain or discomfort. At times one symptom can result in another, for instance, if a woman with this syndrome holds her hand out for something and doesn’t get it, whining, pouting, or tears may follow. Warning: most women who suffer from this syndrome are in denial that they suffer from this syndrome.
It’s an epidemic.
I’m disappointed because I don’t understand why some women want to be treated like infants. I was raised to work hard for everything you get, don’t take things for granted, don’t give in to pain, and take care of yourself. My mother has always raised my sister and me to take care of ourselves; be independent. To be independent doesn’t necessarily mean alone either, I simply mean be your own person, know who you are, and how to take care of yourself. It just seems that for every woman struck by this syndrome another step backwards, for women, is taken.
You can read the whole post here.
Labels: Marianne
Posted by Rosie at 12:01 AM
5 Comments:
Your niece sounds like a very astute young woman. It does sicken me to see girls that just turn on the waterworks or otherwise expect to be catered to like princesses. In my day, it was shameful to do that. We had too much dignity to let someone else see us resort to 'crying' for things or to get our way, or whine and complain when things weren't to our satisfaction. That's very selfish, vain behavior if you ask me!
Many girls (and boys) of today are total wimps. Adult-escents. Too coddled at home to learn how to stand on their own two feet. It's certainly not doing our society any favors, either! All we need is more people thinking they are 'owed' something when they've done nothing to 'earn their stripes'.
But I do know this...any employer worth his or her salt is looking for young women like your neice who can and will get the job done! Even minimum wage jobs are hard-pressed to find decent help these days. Too many spoiled young people that expect to have all the trappings and 'stuff' now, when their parents and grandparents spent DECADES working to achieve those things.
To your neice I say, "BRAVO!"
I'm so used to kids her age being handed everything they want and talk about a lack of work ethic. Your niece is sure a gem and I'm glad to see there are still some girls like her out there. Restores my faith in humanity somewhat.
Poor thing - she lives in So. Cal. doesn't she? Seriously, I am so glad I'm not single because if I had to try to date out here I'd have driven a spoon through my frontal lobe ages ago.
I think somehow, the problem stems from the role model that "we" have and grew up with... Britney Spears and Paris Hilton come to mind... Somehow, women think it's "cute" to act that way... which is pretty sad. It's easy to talk though, but I sure hope I'm not one of the women she is describing :P
Becky, well the kid comes from a long line of strong women starting with my maternal great grandmother who lived on her own in Italy in the early 19th century during a famine while her husband came to the U.S. and saved money to send for her and their children. Thirteen years! It's just tough when a lot of young women around her seem to be the princess type.
Dev, I was thinking the same thing when I read her post. Her humor about it cracks me up though.
Wendy, ain't it the truth? Not to mention she's short and tiny and guys have a tendency to treat her like a cute little kid or toy. Drives her nuts.
Nath, you know she sort of says the same thing. There aren't many strong, intelligent or interesting young women emerging in your generation. Believe me, it's hard for me to think you are one of the type she's talking about.
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