Today, I heard a woman say:
I can’t run
because I’m wearing a long dress
because I haven’t shaved my legs.
we're all making our own sense of things
Today, I heard a woman say:
I can’t run
because I’m wearing a long dress
because I haven’t shaved my legs.
And as they also said,
‘because God made thee mine, I’ll cherish thee…’
Or some such rot.
And she wasn’t prepared to get like the grade six girls tucking her dress into her knickers while playing elastics?
Hmm… reminds me of myself as a young feminist, when I DID NOT SHAVE MY LEGS, the only consequence of which was me spending the summers in jeans and long skirts and never going swimming, because while some women might have delicate bits of white fluff on their legs, I have long black hairs.
Eventually I realised that I wasn’t going to change the world, so I started shaving, swimming and wearing short shorts again. I felt so much more free.
After that, I decided that my brand of feminism meant making choices for me that made me feel more comfortable, and if some of them were dangerously close to embracing the patriarchy, well, so be it, because most of them were not.
My interest was less in the shaved legs and more in the running. I don’t think I’ve run more than two metres since I stopped playing netball at school. Vile activity, and I just find it fascinating that other people not only do it, but love it.
Hmm what if a large and unfriendly dog came at her in a threatening manner? What then?
I never worried about my hairy legs showing before but in the past few years I’ve noticed other people noticing. Which makes me self conscious, which wasn’t the point. The point was to be not self conscious.
Good enough reason not to run!
What’s wrong with running?
I read this as sad because the woman wouldn’t run.
Running sucks.
It hurts.
I *LOVE* running! Wearing jeans and/or shaving my legs; it’s all worth it to be able to run, feel fit, get strong and, most importantly, continue to be able to inhale a family-block of heavenly chocolate at least once a day.
Best of luck in Abu Dhabi – it sounds more like a dodgy percussion instrument than a country and I’ll be looking forward to reading your blogs about it!
Maybe you should try running while waving your arms in the air and screaming.
I don’t know why, but it’s making me giggle right now!
I think running is kind of wearing on the joints, and as an older woman™ my idea is that walking’s a lot better. Bushwalking was my activity of choice, but it has pretty much died in the arse due to children and transport issues. But my dad did it until last year and he’s 87. You can’t run till that age or your cartilage would just wear out.
Penthe, don’t turn and run if you encounter a threatening dog, they can run faster than you and that action is a signal to chase you. Stand still with your arm out with hand palm up and let the dog approach and sniff it if it wants to, otherwise wait till it’s calmer and then walk off calmly. No guarantees, but it’s always worked for me. (If they are guard dogs and you are on their turf, you may have to wait until the owner comes – sucks, but that’s how they’re trained.)
hi there. your blog is so easy on the eyes…nice!
saw u in meggie’s blog… hope to exchange links with if it’s ok. do visit my blog and hoping u can share ur thoughts and exchange links. would be glad to hear from you…
http://any-some-every-thing.blogspot.com/
thanks!