So there I was, trying to pass time in my apartment watching old dvds. Brought LOTRs, Grease, and a few chick flicks from subang to make sure I didn’t die of boredom here. I just finished watching “Mona Lisa Smile”
It’s already the third/fourth time I’ve watched the movie but I still loved it as much.
And this time, I got the chance to reflect a lil about the movie.
Women are indeed complicated but amazing creatures. Have a look at this song by Elton John
“ The Heart of Every Girl”
In the heart of every girl
There is a woman waking up
Like sunlight spreads across the world
A smile for us is just enough
In the heart of every girl
There is a home-spun family dream
Of life that’s filled with so much joy
From a curly head cutie to a teenage queen.
Honeymoons and summers prove
We’ll always love a bride
The gift you gave us all
Is the one you hold inside
This lucky life, this crazy mixed up world
Is all because we love what lives
In the heart
Of every girl.
In the heart of every girl
There is always room for valentines
And boys to kneel and take their hands
With words as sweet as summer wine
And in the heart of every girl
There is a rose for every spring
A peach that’s fragrant and divine
She shines just like a wedding ring.
Her eyes can light up any room
The moment she steps in
Intoxicating everyone
Her laugh alone should be a sin
Sweet right? Come to think of it, I haven’t met a single girl who wasn’t totally sweet in her own way.
But sweetness, and loving flowers, or lace or pretty gowns doesn’t mean that girls are bimbos or air-heads.
Women… I mean wow.
To think of how much things have changed in the past few decades, its amazing! We came from having no say in anything except what gravy to go with the chicken, to being allowed into all-girls colleges, to given the chance to compete equally with our male peers. All this in a few decades. The scene 50 years ago would have been so much more different from the freedom we are getting now.
Its really humbling to sit down and acknowledge the work so many women and some men who have given us a chance to be where we are now. If I were born just a few decades earlier, and wanted to choose medicine as a career, it would have been whispered behind my back that I was “abnormal, and would grow an enormous head or suffer from severe bowel disruption”
(this is true by the way, read it in a book about describing women in medicine, cant remember the title but it was from our very own IMU library actually =P)
We look around and smile because we pride ourselves as being a society that has already gone thru so called 'progression', that gender oppression is only a thing of the past. But we fail to realise that the great 'progression' we've experienced, that the 'past' was only very recent. And we take it for granted.
The fact that I am NOW, given the chance to sit in a lecture hall, enter discussions as an equal and answer the same question paper as every other person, is so…..I’m just thankful.
I not even half as brave or smart as those women who strived to prove our gender worthy to be considered, but yet it is our generation who is given all the benefits of their labour.
Quotes from the “Mona Lisa Smile”
-To change for others, is to lie to yourself
-I’ve heard her called a quitter for leaving, an aimless wonderer. But not all who wander are aimless. Especially not those who seek truth BEYOND TRADITION… BEYOND DEFINITION… BEYOND THE IMAGE.
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