Ani Di Franco

i am not a pretty girl
that is not what i do
i ain't no damsel in distress
and i don't need to be rescued
so put me down punk
wouldn't you prefer a maiden fair
isn't there a kitten
stuck up a tree somewhere

i am not an angry girl
but it seems like
i've got everyone fooled
every time I say something
they find hard to hear
they chalk it up to my anger
and never to their own fear
imagine you're a girl
just trying to finally come clean
knowing full well they'd prefer
you were dirty
and smiling
and i'm sorry
but I am not a maiden fair
and I am not a kitten
stuck up in a tree somewhere
generally my generation
wouldn't be caught dead
working for the man
and generally I agree with them
trouble is you got to have yourself
an alternate plan
i have earned my disillusionment
i have been working all of my life
i am a patriot
i have been fighting the good fight
and what if there are
no damsels in distress
what if i knew that
and I called your bluff
don't you think every kitten
figures out how to get down
whether or not you ever show up

i am not a pretty girl
i don't really want to be a pretty girl
i want to be more than a pretty girl

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We listened to "not a pretty girl" by Ani Di Franco in women's studies this week. I could easily make it my theme song for awhile. So much of it fits with what I believe and how, honestly, I wouldn't be caught dead referred to as a "pretty girl." I am not on this earth to be the prize of some man, to be rescued and carried away into the sunset by the handsome prince. That is not who I am and what I was created for. I'm not an object to be given away (by my father or anyone else, for that matter) and to be sought after and "won." I could go on and on about books - many of them by Christian authors - that say that the two dreams of a woman are to be referred to as a "beauty" and the be swept away by a man into some adventure (not to make obvious which book I am referring to or anything). In other words, I am not all about living a fairy tale life.

I'm done venting now.