Posted on 07/31/2013 1:05:05 PM PDT by nickcarraway
My 10-year-old daughter, Birdy, is not nice, not exactly. She is deeply kind, profoundly compassionate and, probably, the most ethical person I know — but she will not smile at you unless either she is genuinely glad to see you or you’re telling her a joke that has something scatological for a punch line.
This makes her different from me. Sure, I spent the first half of the ’90s wearing a thrifted suede jacket that I had accessorized with a neon-green sticker across the back, expressing a somewhat negative attitude regarding the patriarchy (let’s just say it’s unprintable here). But even then, I smiled at everyone. Because I wanted everyone to like me. Everyone!
I am a radical, card-carrying feminist, and still I put out smiles indiscriminately, hoping to please not only friends and family but also my son’s orthodontist, the barista who rolls his eyes while I fumble apologetically through my wallet, and the ex-boyfriend who cheated on me. If I had all that energy back — all the hours and neurochemicals and facial musculature I have expended in my wanton pursuit of likedness — I could propel myself to Mars and back. Or, at the very least, write the book “Mars and Back: Gendered Constraints and Wasted Smiling.”
But it is not one thing or another, of course. My mostly pleasant way might get me more freelance work. And friendliness tends to put people at ease — loved ones, neighbors, waitresses — which is a good thing. Plus, smiling probably makes me feel happier, according to all those studies about self-fulfilling emotional prophesies. I know that our sweet-hearted son, who is 13, has always had the experience of niceness being its own reward.
(Excerpt) Read more at parenting.blogs.nytimes.com ...
See post #58. I think that we can safely rest our case.
This is probably true, though she intended it to flatter her daughter, it is in fact a powerful indictment of everyone she knows.
Wow. Just wow.
She should have titled it, “How to make sure your daughter is despised by everyone she meets, and will remain single and bitter until she dies”.
Of course, if you ever want to know why Peggy Noonan turned weird, just remember: this IS liberal, white New York. These are the sort of people Noonan has surrounded herself with for 25 years. The author of this piece is the face of Liberal White America, boasting about teaching her daughter to be a rude, obnoxious jerk. The saddest part was reading the comments, most of which praised her for teaching her daughter to act like an ass.
I WANT the oceans to rise. Then they would flood cities like NYC & SF...
Bite your tongue, then they'll all wind up in Texas and other places that don't want 'em.
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