Are you Satisfied?

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As welsh songwriter Marina Lambrini said in her song “Are you satisfied?”: “They say I’m a control freak driven by greed to succeed”. 

Nowadays, teenage girls are cataloged as “control freaks” when they have established goals, and work for attaining them. Why does society perceive girls who work hard at school and in their extracurriculars as “try-hards” who do not fall under the desired image of normality? 

Through the years we have seen clear examples of what “high achieving girls” should be: Rory Gilmore instead of Paris Geller, a more relaxed Hermione Granger…someone who is shy, weak, submissive, and lives for school and nothing else. Nonetheless, if a girl is structured, owns her power, and has a strong character, they immediately change the perception of “Oh what a nice girl” to “Why is she mad all the time?”.

Society is intimidated by young women who know what they want. They want us to follow structures that portray us as something that we may not be. Also, gender has an important impact on this topic, since men are characterized as "go-getters," "problem-solvers," and "assertive," while women are anointed "bossy" or "aggressive," and are not offered the same opportunities as men.

By now, you may be wondering if you either seem bossy to other people and how can you change that, or how can you tell those idiotic people that they are wrong. If you seem more related to the first one, please don’t. You are doing great, tracing your objectives and working as hard as you can to attain them, you should be proud of yourself (here at Girlstawk we most certainly are), don’t listen to them.

Now, if you are way more related to the second option, here’s what we’re going to do:

First, congratulations you haven’t fallen for what society tells you to think. Secondly, own it. Work even harder, and be as a “control freak” as you want (of course without creating collateral damage to people). You are the only one responsible for your actions, and if you are a hard-working woman, and you are proud of that…great for you, no one can tell you otherwise. 

People like to tell you what you’re gonna be. Nevertheless, you must be proud of yourself, we all are.

XO

Mariana