While standing in line at the grocery store the other day, I happened to witness a conversation which got me thinking. Two young women, probably in their early twenties, were engaged in a spirited discussion, apparently regarding some third party. One of them was quite animated, waving her arms about, pulling up her two-sizes-too-small-for-her halter top, which then exposed her ample muffin top and obligatory butterfly tramp stamp. She was in a lather about some offense offered up by this third party, and was explaining to her friend how much she would like to deliver a beat down, and "crack me some skulls." She peppered her diatribe with plenty of f-bombs and other words that should have gotten her mouth washed out with soap. She finished it off with "That little ho better watch out, because karma's a bitch."
As I watched two of our Leaders of Tomorrow walk off, two things struck me. First, I started to ponder what it was about cuss words that some women find so appealing. It is not attractive when uttered by either gender, but especially so by women repeating them over and over again. Is it to portray a certain level of edginess? Is it to shock? After the second or third f-bomb, it lost its shock value and simply became disgusting. Is it to show the world that women can do everything men can do? I can understand women wanting to demonstrate that they equal to men, but why do they have to choose the worst aspects of male behavior to imitate? I am all for women entering fields associated with maleness. It's super cool that my wife is into football and that she was excited that Adrian Wilson signed his new deal. But she didn't grab her crotch, spit, and cuss like Muffin Top Girl to show me her excitement. If women wanted to demonstrate their being equal to men, they shouldn't be crude and crass. They should act like ladies, who don't act like they're in a women's prison, and have a little class. In fact, that would show superiority to men, rather than equality.
The second thing that started to rattle around my brain is this whole "karma" thing (which I think is a bunch of hogwash). It seems like every time some ill befalls some people, they announce that karmic retribution awaits the person responsible for that ill. But why is the karmic clock starting only now? If the universe rights wrongs and settles scores, why isn't the bad thing being visited upon you the universe's way of paying you back for something you've done? I wanted to tap Muffin Top Girl on the shoulder and point out that maybe whatever her friend had done to her was her karmic retribution for being such a potty-mouthed knucklehead. I didn't (of course) because I didn't want to be on the receiving end of a beat down.
Vis a vis "The Muffin Top", I admire, I think it was, Camille Paglia's brand of feminism. She advocated for women dressing and acting like women, but kicking butt on merit. So, instead of reprising the Sigourney Weaver character in "Working Girl"--i.e. the woman who dresses in a man's suit, and tries to duplicate a man's behavior, Paglia suggested feminine clothing, and female behavior, including whatever truth may lie behind stereotypes of female virtuosity with psychological manipulation. No swearing or tattoos necessary to rule the world.