Yes, people are intelligent regardless of whether or not they know that we all really just know a whole lot of nothing. But to have true wisdom and be able to have others know that you are humble about your intelligence, knowing that we know nothing is a powerful realization that people really need to have. One that I personally had the other day.
I was actually talking to one of my dad's coworkers and we were discussing what I wanted to do when I graduated college and she casually mentioned to me that I should not worry about anything because she, being over the age of 50, still did not know anything really, even though she has lived a decent amount of time and has had many life experiences. I replied without thinking or even remembering Socrates' quote that "I guess that is how you really know if you are intelligent; if you can contentedly say that you truly know nothing." Sometimes it is hard to me to enunciate my thoughts eloquently, much less at all, so I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to share that thought with some finesse. Anyway, it was just really cool to be able to talk to somebody who is quite successful, openly admitting to me that she knows nothing at all in the grand scheme of things, and is yet living a great, happy life.
And for those that are told their whole lives that they are smart, intelligent, or a genius, well... they will never be humble enough or wise enough to know that they are in fact not exactly what they have been told. Once they understand that we are a constant work in progress and not actually experts on anything, they might be able to live a more stress-free life. But what do I know? Oh right, I know nothing! (Couldn't help myself)
Now enjoy this lovely assortment of random pictures and gifs.
Hey y'all. Do yourselves a favor and listen to this masterpiece that has comically upended gender stereotypes for country girls in country music songs. Needless to say, I have watched this video over and over again with so much pride and glee in my soul for what they have done for southern girls. I will always sing my heart out and blare this song whenever it comes on, regardless of where I am at any given moment. Girls, be proud of who you are, and never let any person dictate your worth or persuade you into fitting into a certain mold because it seems to be "the southern thing to do." Enjoy the video and song above!
Okay, good. Now that you have watched the video, how pumped are you? How much did you laugh? How happy are you? And if you are a country music fan, like I am, then you know that the lyrics to this fantastic hit are entirely too true. Sad that we have to look backward when "Conway and George Strait/ Never did it this way" when we have supposedly made so much ground with our rights as females. Yet, during the time when these country music stars rose to extreme fame, women did not have the privileges and rights that we have today.
So what has changed? Seems like not much because some rising female country music artists are promoting the ways of the past that prevent women from not only receiving our rightful justices, but also feeling as if we do not need them, do not want them, and do not deserve them. Yes, I am talking about RaeLynn's "God Made Girls." Merely writing the title gives me anxiety and hearing the song in my head only further fuels my hate fire, as Fat Amy from Pitch Perfect would say.
Ahhhh, so much love for Fat Amy. Anyways, back to the nonsense that RaeLynn has been encouraging. Forgive me for posting this video, but you have to hear it for yourself.
My freshman year roommate told me about this song after we had a 30 minute conversation about how we both felt about today's country music, why we disliked the messages behind half of the songs, and why I loved Maddie & Tae's song so gosh darn much. After she told me about the song, I of course had to watch it. Little did I know that my brain would implode on itself after watching it. Ugh, thanks for the warning roomie. Watch the video and listen for yourself.
I am a strong, independent, and proud young woman and she basically crapped on all of that. Duh, I am livid. I was so angry and in disbelief by the blatant advertising of subservience to men that I wrote a piece on it for the op-ed assignment I had for my Women's Studies 101 class. I ended up writing too much, too passionately (is there really such a thing though?), but it is as follows if you care to read it.
RaeLynn, I am NOT Alive to Please Men! A Major
Shout-out to Maddie & Tae
RaeLynn, an emerging female country music star,
released her hit single “God Made Girls” in 2014 that argues that all women
were created to be subservient to men. This friends, is an outrage to all of
womankind because condoning that male domination is justified through Christian
faith sends the wrong message to so many
people. However, RaeLynn is not the only new female artist within country music
to generate attention; the female country music duo, Maddie & Tae, came out
with their hit “Girl In a Country Song” in 2014 as well. Unlike “God Made
Girls,” Maddie & Tae’s song satirically highlighted the disrespect and
objectification of women evident in many of country music’s greatest hits in
the past few years. I thoroughly support the sentiment and wit of “Girl In a
Country Song” because it humorously calls out other songs that demean women.
Hey guys! Girls are NOT your “pretty, little [play] things!”[1]
“God Made Girls” also emphasizes that women have to
fit into these stereotypes because that is how God made us; for instance,
RaeLynn says a man “needed something soft and loud and sweet and proud.” Wait,
did she just liken herself and all women to being a thing? An object? She also says at the beginning of her music video
that “the heart of every girl longs for these things. It’s what makes us come
alive.” Excuse me, but says who? Hello ladies! We belong to us, we deserve our
own attention, time, and effort, and we do not need to base our precious lives
on another human being because society
tells us so. Likewise, the media consistently attempts to mold and shape young
women to fit into the beauty ideal that has been suffocating us for decades.
Naomi Wolf describes in “The Beauty Myth” that “women must want to embody
[beauty] and men must want to possess women who embody it” because society
dictates that that is the only way to succeed in life. This idea is also seen
in Jean Kilbourne’s Killing Us Softly film
series in which she shows exactly how objectifying advertising is and has been
for decades. RaeLynn is advertising to young girls that it is okay for their
bodies to be viewed as objects and available to please men. No more. Women need
to be role models for girls in positive, uplifting ways. Thankfully, artists
Maddie & Tae are indeed fighting for our respect within current country
music.
Maddie & Tae’s “Girl In a Country Song” is fantastic
for feminism, and the music video, available on YouTube, is genius and
hysterical. To elaborate, a role reversal scene creates the image of three “good
ol’ country boys” drastically morphed into three hot, sexual objects. They
embody the typical, country “tan-legged Juliet,” except as men and not women.
These characters over-exaggerate the stereotypical behaviors of women in
country music videos with the emphasis on sexiness, hotness, and desirability. Oh,
that is not even the best part. Maddie
& Tae describe how women “used to get a little respect,” but are now only
lucky enough “to climb up in your truck, keep our mouth shut and ride along,
and be the girl the girl in a country song.” Y’all better tell ‘em! The amount
of awareness they are spreading to women is exceptional, for it reaches out to
young girls that they should never tolerate belittlement from a male or person
or accept a subservient place in our society. We deserve equality between the sexes. We deserve respect.
As I myself thought, Tara Rountree of the Thought
Catalog argues that RaeLynn’s “God Made Girls” is “dangerous to all women, and
to all men who have women in their lives that they care about… [because] it
exacerbates the results of years of negatively socializing us to devalue women
as a less capable faction of society.” Maybe this sounds dramatic, but it is
entirely true. We, as women, have a duty to uphold and endorse the equality
between the sexes and need to stop promoting inequalities, for such promotion
only continues a vicious, never-ending cycle of male domination over females.
Stop. This. Insanity.
To all females, and even males, that happen to love
country music, as I do, and especially
those who do not, you need to listen to “Girl In a Country Song” and appreciate
it. It is pure gold. It is a beacon of hope for young girls in an overwhelming
world of striving to be popular, get the guy, look hot, be catcalled, degraded,
condescended… the list could go on forever. Do not let our objectification and
our mistreatment by men continue to exist in society.
So my dearest ladies, let us ditch being the girl that
has “gotta wear a pretty skirt” and “be the one to flirt” like RaeLynn wants us
to. Forget the beauty ideal! We will tell him and use the wise words of Maddie
& Tae instead: you act “like all we’re good for is looking good for you and
your friends on the weekend, nothing more,” but “that ain’t no way to treat a
lady.” If anyone does not agree, then all I can say to y’all is… Bless your heart! Because honey, you’re going to need it.
[1] This edited citation references
partial lyrics to Maddie & Tae’s “Girl In a Country Song” (2014).
Yeah, pretty passionate. I know. On a super serious note though, if young girls, southern or not, idolize and unknowingly internalize these messages of inferiority and subservience to men, then they will have no chance of breaking out of the shell that has been created for them. They will have no chance to be their own individual and will not even be aware that this is not okay. If this happens, then God Bless America because we females are most certainly going to need it.
Don't Listen to the Adults Nagging You About What You Intend to do With Your Life
Seriously, don't. Don't even think about worrying, panicking, or stressing over what your exact career will be when you're 20 years or younger. Unless you know your calling and know 100000% that it is what you have to do with your life or you will die, do not even worry about your future. Like I did. All of my freshman year. Bringing me to tears, late night panic sessions in which I had to be consoled by my roommate in order to calm down, and endless nights over-analyzing my entire life choices. Where does any of this really get you? A one-way ticket to your friendly, neighborhood... wait for it... campus psychological services area. All joking aside, this is a great resource to get your worries under control so you can be a healthier you. Also extremely helpful is your campus's career services team. I highly recommend using these resources fairly regularly if you are in doubt about your future.
Another reason you should not over-stress your future is that you cannot control, nor change, what will happen to you in the future; all you can do is try to be as prepared as possible for it and don't let anything stand in your way.
Furthermore, you should also be a college kid. You most certainly deserve it and you have more than earned your place in the ranks. Therefore, I say enjoy it. This is the only time in your life where you can wake up in your pj's, go to the dining hall to get food at 1 pm on a Saturday and still get an omelet, spend countless nights hanging out with all of your new friends, stay up as late as you want without parents telling you what you may and may not do, and go to Starbucks to get coffee AND study.
Why yes, Janice. Yes, I did. I went to that frat party the other night with my girls and danced to the latest pop music sometimes with complete strangers too. Minus the alcohol. I can actually say that. I am living. I am experiencing things. I am living college life. I am breathing it too (more like hyperventilating it, but that is beside the point). I do worry about my grades because I have set a standard for myself and I want to get the grades that I think are achievable; however, I refuse to base these grades on my chances of getting a job someday because I promise you no employer is going to care whether you got an A in your favorite Country Music class or not. Nor will they particularly care that you got a 3.9999 GPA upon graduation. Great job, but what else did you do in college?
Guys. Get a job through the university or at your favorite retail store. Go volunteer. Run a 5k if that is your thing. Join an intramural or club sport. Write pieces to be featured in your campus's newspaper. Join a club and run for an office. Whatever you do, do it now before you think too much about it. Do something you have never done before. Or you will regret it.
But don't forget to kick back and relax once in a while too. Breaks are essential to one's sanity. Believe me. Netflix, ice cream, and snuggling in all of your blankets is perfectly fine. Don't feel obligated to go to every frat party, hang out, or date. Sometimes relaxing and being by yourself is all you need.
For the final and essential note though, planning every inch of your life in one day will not guarantee that any of that will happen. Set goals for yourself, yes. Just try not to plan everything out right now.
Think about the wise words of John Mellencamp:
"Changes come around real soon, make us women and men."
--- "Jack and Diane"
So let us enjoy this odd period of pre-adulthood, post-childhood (but desperately still holding on for dear life to being that child) life that college promises. And ignore, tolerate, and accept the nagging and interrogative questions involving what you plan to do in the future or with your life. You will figure it out along the way. You will struggle. You will accomplish greatness in the meantime as long as you work hard. You will more than likely find it when you least expect it. And you will be okay in the end. This is only a part of life. It is inevitable. So why worry?
Why not be a hippie? Why not desire to experience and love complete and utter peace within one's self. Why not want peace for the world? Why not want the freedom to be able to love freely and choose your own destiny for yourself? Why not want freedom?
These are the questions that push me to live each and every day without regrets. Without being sorry for living. Without being sorry for being exactly who I am. And being proud of that.
I have been called a "hippie" by friends, family, and colleagues. I always thought it was interesting. However, they always associated this term with my passions and my love of tie-dye, the Beatles, looking natural, and wavy hair. What? That automatically makes me a hippie. Okay.
Now, I attribute the term to myself as one of great importance to my identity. And I understand the association with the word more deeply.
A song in particular speaks to me very intensely. Please, take the time to listen to it now. John Lennon's voice and soul is also beautiful. That should be incentive enough.
One can dream, yes they can. Lennon's song "Imagine" is equally beautiful and sad. It puts my thoughts and feelings into words more eloquently than I could ever produce. What an unattainable hope for mankind. Alas, I find this hope for widespread peace to be unattainable even in my personal life, struggles, and affairs. I only hope that one day I may truly be free and free enough to be able to live the life I have always dreamed. I am a hippie. I want freedom. I want women and men alike to be able to be who they are and not feel shame for themselves in any way whatsoever. I want people to live. I want to live.
Furthermore, just because I am a hippie, does not mean that I live the life that the 1960's hippies of America lived. Though that is not truly anybody's business, except my own. Moreover, I want to endorse the beliefs that the '60s made so popular and so desirable. I want peace. Peace all over. I want free, but safe and healthy, love. I want love to be free. I want peace to be free for all, without costs, exceptions, or sacrifices.
Now, please tell me exactly what is wrong with that. I'm begging you.
In addition to the odd stigmas associated with being a hippie, I do not partake in the stereotypical dress, behavior, and guitar-playing that is blatantly depicted via searching "hippie" on Google.
Too comical, I know. But I just could not resist this image in particular. Because after all, all you need is love.
And The Beatles. You cannot forget The Beatles.
Being a
hippie is a great thing. Something that I am very proud of because it is
a part of me, what I value, and who I am. It is a fantastic
representation of myself. It is also fun to say. Go ahead and let it
roll right off of your tongue. But most importantly, it tells others
that truly try to understand me know that I am proud of myself. That I
genuinely love myself. That I am at peace with myself and the life that I
have been given. And whatever happens to me, I just have to make an
effort to enjoy it and make the most of it.
