Mild Wild

I have been called many things in my life and yet rebel is not one of those names that occurs regularly. Or really at all, admittedly. The idea of the rebel, especially the female rebel, is the one who stays out late, drinks, pops birth control pills and wears short skirts. Times are changing though.

The idea of the rebel was the one who broke all the rules, all the things that their parents felt were the good things to do. Those were wearing long skirts, marrying and having a family. Times have changed now. Mild is the new wild.

The rebels are the ones who break the rules. Over the past few years however, the rules have changed. More women are what are considered wild. The rules have changed to allow us to party, to work and to travel should desire any of those things. The rules have made it more difficult for women who choose to not have sex before marriage, or to stay at home and raise a family. If we don't want to be promiscuous, if we don't want a career, then we are considered to be the rebel.

We have changed the way women are viewed in the past decades. We have made huge advances in divorce laws, in work place rights. Women are more protected legally, if not literally, than they were five decades ago. We have the right to choose what we want in our lives to find that all the choices have been made for us once again. We brought sex and sexuality to an accepted place for women, and when we choose to not use it, we are considered odd. We have changed everything about how women used to be viewed. All that has led to though is another form of stereotype.

I suppose that now I would be considered the rebel. I'm the one who wants to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, learn how to knit and get a rocking chair. I don't want an exciting career. I want to create a family. I don't wear short skirts and I'm not a fan of loud parties. I'd rather stay at home curled up on the couch with a good book. That definitely fits the definition of mild. Somehow I am now the definition of wild. There are very few women who desire these things anymore. The wishes and dreams that are usually listed are a career, travel and an ability to change the world. We have changed the stereotypes from women who want to stay in the kitchen to women who want to rule the world. And now mild is the new wild.