When Being a Girl Isn't Cool

I took a step back this week, paused, and decided to really focus on happiness, positive thinking, and willpower in an effort to get my happiness, health, and sanity in check. The result? I'm having a really good week. I mean, a really, really good week. I'm starting up my workout regimen, talking to HaShem before bed every night, thinking before posting negative/kvetchy posts in the social universe, managing my "feed the stress with food" habit, and I've even picked up more work. Yay!

I can do this.

While chatting with an old friend this week about getting together for coffee, I mentioned I'd rather get together on a day when Ash is in daycare because "I want to feel like an adult." You know, two adults getting coffee reminiscing about the good ole days behind the grill at McDonalds? He joked,

A phrase I strongly stand by is this: A man is a person who admits he's still a boy.

My initial reaction? "The keywords are MAN and BOY. Being a girl isn't as cool/fun as being a woman."

His response: "#MaturityisOverrated"

It got me thinking about what it means to be a woman. It seems like it's cool or funny or expected for a man to be a bit of a boy at times, whether that means playful or immature or downright juvenile about things. Men can roll around in the mud, make fart jokes, build a fort, make a mess. Be a big ole kid and it's cool.

Being a woman, however, means not being a girl.

Being a girly girl as a grown woman just doesn't fly. As a grown woman, you have to be strong, confident, driven, and able to handle anything that flies at you at any hour of the day in any form. There's no crawling back into your dollhouse or putting on a tutu and dancing around the room all day. It just doesn't fly. Be a big ole kid and it's very not cool.

It's all about the perception. What do you think? Can men be boys and women can't be girls? Is it just society?