have you read this book?
because if not, you should.
fascinating womanhood, by helen andelin, was one of those books that opened my eyes and changed the way i think. it played to my already inclined opinions. true, i was teased the entire time i read, with my red pen in hand, by my sisters natalie and hailey. the subtitle, how the ideal woman awakens a man's deepest love and tenderness, was a little too much for them to stomach without snickering every time they saw me buried in my book.
believe me, i was a little skeptical as well when my mom suggested the book. after all, the almost-1950's throwback to the suppressed lifestyle of housedress-wearing, grin-and-bear-it sort of woman doesn't exactly sound ideal, right? well, i can sure say i was wrong! the image painted of the "ideal woman" by andelin is beautiful. something to truly aspire to. she paints the characteristics of femininity with women from history and the great classics, showing the modern-day woman how to return to their true feminine nature. the more i read, the more i realized how in-line her teachings were with my own beliefs about correct roles for women and men, husbands and wives. And to add to her own insight, she incorporates scripture and principles taught by Christ.
Now, for a embarrassing little secret: i fall easily for books slightly leaning toward the "self help" category. Titles like 7 habits of highly effective people and tables of contents revealing assignments make my heart race a tiny bit and my imagination flare up. i know, i know. this seems a little... well, unsophisticated? but my logic is this: we're on this planet to help each other. books leaning in this direction are simply advice from a more experienced person to those willing to learn, their way of helping out humanity, and i like that. not to say that i prefer these books more than another kind; i live for great literature. these are simply a little guilty pleasure. besides, the scriptures are the best self helps books to speak of. but, i digress. fascinating womanhood has assignments and self-evaluations. i loved it because it helped me start the process of changing little habits i have and work toward a solid goal.
i evaluated my conversation - i'm still working on the gossip thing, as most college girls are, but i've greatly improved. i've started steering conversation toward others to show my interest in other people more than in myself. and (this one is fun!) i've worked on my tone of voice, inserting more emotion into my daily exchanges. believe me, changing my tone alone did wonders for my attitude. when i decided to speak as though i were bubbling with happiness, i found i actually was! it's been an unexpected discovery in my journey of thought processes.
i've started wearing dresses and skirts more than anything else. after all, i prefer them over pants and shorts so much that it was a little ridiculous how little i wore more feminine clothing.
i've decided to stop cracking my knuckles - a nasty habit i've had for years.
if i wrote all the little things i'd marked and evaluated since this read, it would be eons long. so i won't. there are so many mannerisms and habits my eyes have been opened to. if i could pick the most surprising and interesting section of the book, it would be the topic of being childlike. it's a Christian teaching i think is largely not understood, at least by me. andelin's view of becoming childlike was approachable, and it made sense to me.
disregarding the fact that i fell in love with andelin's view of womanhood, this is a book i feel is historically important. written in response to the popular book of the feminist movement, the feminine mystique, andelin's writings represent the flip-side of the modern woman, a strength in feminism with a religious acknowledgement to the divine role of womanhood.
to sum up, my grandmother read fascinating womanhood after her marriage and gave the book to my mother in high school. in turn, my mother gave the book to me. in years to come, i dream of placing it in the hands of my daughters, passing on the knowledge of divine womanhood and encouraging the growth of correct femininity.
it's a read i would absolutely recommend! but be prepared to change the way think about yourself, your role as a woman, and what you can accomplish through developing stronger characteristics of feminism!
ps. while sorting through some of my mom's recipes today with natalie, we came across a simply luscious pie recipe. as a last note on the recipe card, the writer had encouragingly added, "zero calories if cut into 99 pieces!!" we had quite a laugh and ended up disrupting hailey's piano student. oh what a day!
