When I was younger, my view on feminism was a typical girls-are-better-than-boys mentality, somewhere along the lines of, "Great! Feminism! Women are equal to men and should stand up for their rights!"
But as I mature I see the excessive, selfish, and foolish side of extreme feminism, and I hesitate to give my full praise. I'm not saying that the former view is in any way wrong and still stand strongly by that belief. However it is subversive of the whole concept of equality when feminists go so far to claim that women are greater than men and become men-haters. The feminist then prides herself in being ultra-independent and successful, scorning love and believing that marriage would only hinder her. She becomes a workaholic, living only for herself or for her cause, and never learning that true joy comes from love and a humble heart instead of her many achievements.
Here then is the distinction of a strong woman. She does not deny her weaknesses or claim an equal role with men. A strong woman is one who accepts and embraces her role as a woman--and fulfills it to the highest calling. But she knows that although her role may be different, her self-worth is not less than anyone, neither a man's. She respects her husband and even if she does not head the household; she is the key supporter that holds everything together; without her the household would be in ruins. A strong example I find for this woman is Hester Prynne who faces her sin and endures her punishment in The Scarlet Letter. Another is the Queen of Sparta in the movie the 300, who does not go to the battlefield with her husband but rather endures the pain of waiting for the news at home, whether it is victory of death to her loved one. Meanwhile, she fully comprehends her duty at home, and being just as important as the battlefield, she preserves the state of Sparta.
Maybe I am a traditionalist of sorts. But this essentially what I am saying: though I do support women to go out and become successful in the world, I also believe that a woman who stays at home and raises children is just strong and admirable as the career-oriented woman.
Here I'll leave off with a quote from Breakfast at Tiffany's. It doesn't seem to be completely related but still follows a similar tangent of thought. The character that Audrey Hepburn plays considers herself to be independent and free-spirited, with no one tying her down as she merely swtiches from man to man to receive favors and money. But this is what she ends up as: "You know what's wrong with you, Miss Whoever-you-are? You're chicken, you've got no guts. You're afraid to stick out your chin and say, "Okay, life's a fact, people do fall in love, people do belong to each other, because that's the only chance anybody's got for real happiness." You call yourself a free spirit, a "wild thing," and you're terrified somebody's gonna stick you in a cage. Well baby, you're already in that cage. You built it yourself. And it's not bounded in the west by Tulip, Texas, or in the east by Somali-land. It's wherever you go. Because no matter where you run, you just end up running into yourself. "
In the end it's the paradox that her sense of freedom and wildness actually encages herself.
True strength comes in accepting one's own weakness. And this is another paradox.
