2008-03-02 - 6:09 p.m.
I love reading Francine M.Pascal's "Fearless" series. The main fictional heroine --- Gaia Moore --- has genuinely impressed me. She reminds me a little of Jamie Summers in TV show "Bionic Woman". Gaia Moore is a girl born without the fear gene (which by the way, you can already tell from the obvious title). Imagine that.
Once I wondered what it would feel like to be her for a day. Would that be so cool? Would I be safe from the jerks out there who just loved bullying women to show how tough they all could be? (Yeah, right.)
Since I was a kid, I've been upset by society's awful perception about women: that they're mostly cowards but tolerable and even (considered) normal. Honestly? I HATE THAT! I was even bugged by a State governor (who was a popular Hollywood actor in the 90's) with his gender-biased statement long ago. He'd claimed that male politicians who were cowards were simply: "girly-men". (And I silently wonder what did really mean anyway.)
Sadly, a lot of girls are (still) buying such degrading nonsense. It's like no matter how beautiful and intelligent they truly are, this awful perception has gradually made them believe that they must still depend on other people (especially guys!) just to make them more respected. I mean, how insecure can that really be? If these girls aren't careful enough (or waking up soon from the huge dosage of sleeping pills given freely by society), this will gradually lead them spiraling down to stagnation and --- fearfully --- nothingness.
I must admit --- as a girl myself --- I've projected most of my anger toward society by becoming...a tomboy. I once had my hair cut extra short, rarely wore dresses and skirts, talked loud (and still do), etc. But soon, I realised that: "Why should I sacrifice my feminine side completely, just to prove people I'm also brave enough to face anything?"
To this day, I sometimes still hate to admit that --- like most normal people in the world --- I do have my fears. I only feel comfortable talking about them with my few most trusted friends. In fact, I'm still often scared of showing people that I too have them. Silly, huh?
Thankfully, I've had my good male buddies telling me the truth behind the (still) awfully gender-biased society. Guess what? They've openly admitted their fears to me. (To keep their trust, I'm not going to specify any names here.) One once feared of losing a cheating girlfriend (and now I'm forever thankful that he's finally made a sensible decision to end that unhealthy relationship.) Another feared of not being able to provide true happiness to his true love (and gratefully, they're now engaged.) They've all shared the same thing to me and it's changed my perception:
"Even the bravest have fears. But that doesn't make them cowards, because only cowards who choose not to face their fears and fight."
Knowing and believing that, I've begun to look at this issue more clearly. I believe that women are very good at being brave too, especially when they truly believe that themselves. What about our mothers who worry and may be scared of what can possibly happen to us in the future, eventhough they know that they can't always watch their kids 24/7? Or, a girl fearing that her adrenaline-junkie of a boyfriend might get in a serious accident in one of his dangerous activities --- related to extreme sports?
From now on, I don't want to hear any insult on my kind. Why do women (seem to) fear a lot? It's because they care, not from cowardice.
The Author
