different standards.

Now Playing: Wildest Moments by Jessie Ware (and from the outside everyone must be wondering why we try)

I just posted a status on facebook that went something along the lines of 'I want to be the Paper Bag Princess who fights her own dragons and gets her Prince Charming'. The story behind that is that the Paper Bag Princess is a book I read when I was little that was published in the 80s, in which the princess goes and fights the dragon instead of the prince, but her beautiful princess gown gets destroyed in the process and when she meets her prince dressed only in a paper bag he rejects her. I read a paper which discussed the Paper Bag Princess' role as an antithesis to Disney Princess mania, but also noted that the Paper Bag Princess - a strong, brave, intelligent girl - ends up...alone.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being single, voluntary or not, but I'm getting quite sick of this stereotype that feminists never want any relationships or family of any kind, that career women must give up any chance of being a wife and mother, that women who label themselves as 'feminists' don't deserve the label of 'girlfriend'. The meaning behind my facebook message was that I consider myself the kind of person, the kind of woman, who fights her own dragons and chases her own dreams, and I don't want to be excluded from my other dreams, like my dreams of getting married and starting a family, just because I'm more Paper Bag Princess than Cinderella. All I want is everything, and to be honest, I deserve nothing less. No one does.

We live in this world where women can have one or the other. Joining the fight for equal rights comes at a price - and that price isn't something I'm willing to pay. I want my Prince Charming, I have no qualms about saying that. I'm a feminist who falls in love way too easily, and that's not an oxymoron. I'm a Paper Bag Princess who can fight her own dragons. But I'd have the time of my life fighting dragons with you.