Did anyone ever say that to you? I heard it all the time growing up. From teachers, from relatives, even the occasional stranger on the street. And you know what? It's a big, fat fib. One I had to figure out for myself.
Boys, who eventually grow into men, actually LOVE a girl who cracks jokes. Sure, there is an exception to every rule, but really, if a man can't keep up with my snarky wit, or heaven forbid, is unable to laugh at himself, well, I don't have much use for him. Other than raw material for the next guy.
Honestly, it isn't much different than a man who is intimidated by a woman who brings in more money. Yes, it exists but are we really going to tell our daughters that they can't be breadwinners because some loser gets his blue collar jockey in a twist?
Yeah, not in this lifetime.
So, where did this adage come from? It is neither wise nor true yet it happened. Did our mothers get sick of hearing us running our mouths and make up a BS consequence to being a smartass? Maybe it's a cultural or generational thing. Sure, I could benefit from shutting my yap once in a while but I don't think a little verbal diarrhea warrants the threat of never finding someone who will value who you are.
Thing is, I had to reach a certain level of maturity before I could question the validity of this asinine statement.
I was a good girl for many years, and never really thought about adults as fallible. My rebel's heart now demands I question everything to avoid looking like a dupe, but it got me thinking, what if there was an entire group of people who were forbidden from asking questions?
In my upcoming release. B Cubed Book: One: Born Cormack is a genetically engineered slave, one of thousands who toil for the benefit of natural born humans and are recycled if they rebel in any way. Cormack and those like him are forbidden from questioning the Supervisors and Task Masters whims, and are often abused at the hands of those who are supposed to guide them. The perfect slave race, they can never question the validity of an authority figure, must submit or face the consequences.
Under circumstances like those, it's not so easy to reach your own conclusions, to fight those you have been engineered to obey. When even the most basic human rights are denied you, would you fight, flee or submit?
So hit me up with the stern and inappropriate threats you've been given or tell me why you think some people resorted to them.
11 comments:
I'm more the silent assassin type than a smart ass, so my comment is about your B Cubed cover - it's stunningly beautiful, especially at full size! Too bad it will mostly be seen as a thumbnail.
Thanks, Gail! We're going to use the same background for all three books, just change the couple up.
Oh, honey, i'm quite the surgical bitch. I bide my time and strike at the most opportune moment. With a drawl and a smile. :)
And you know how I love pimping this book!!!!
I prefer the sweet as candy approach with a razor edge bite. They never see it coming.
I think people resort to threats when they feel backed into a corner and have no where to turn.
I never heard 'boys don't like girls with smart mouths' until I read it on this blog today. Nobody ever told me that as a kid, probably because they realized that telling me 'boys don't like' something would have been a good way to get me to do it. lol I did get in trouble all the time for having a 'smart mouth' though, and sometimes my mom would threaten to wash my mouth out with soap. She never actually did it.
Do I even need to comment? ROFL.
I can be subtle, but I prefer to make sure that there are no misunderstandings.
Here's a list of lies I've heard:
Men don't like women who are taller than they are. LIE. I get the short guys who want to "climb the mountain" all the time.
Men don't like women who aren't super feminine. LIE. I can hold my own in any group of men and it's usually these guys who are hitting on me. My husband has said if I was any more of a man, he'd be gay. (I think that's kind of sweet.)
Men don't like fat chicks. LIE. Maybe some don't, but I get hit on more now than I did when I was fifty pounds lighter and single.
But then there's the part where you can tie each of these experiences back to confidence. I think that's on the same level with pheromones. All people are attracted to confidence. Not arrogance, there is a difference.
And I agree with you 100%. If a man can't keep up with my wit, I don't have much hope he'll be able to keep up anywhere else either. My husband and I banter constantly. If he's awake, there's banter. It inspires me (See Caspian. LOL.) and keeps me quick on my feet. I sharpen my claws on him all the time and he loves it.
Liane, you're a Belle thru and thru. They never see it coming!
Marnie, I agree that these threats stem from desperation, but how they went from that to old truism is beyond me.
Ranae, I guess your mom went for the direct approach, nothing veiled in that threat!
I can totally vouch for Sara, she gets eye humped by strangers wherever we go!
LMAO at climb the mountain! You need a T-shirt that says, there will be no flag planting here!
I loooove this cover. It's beautiful.
As for me, I'm slowly learning to speak my mind with people if something is really upsetting to me. Usually I just bit holes in my tongue, but I've learned that some well though out, firm responses can stop people in their tracks. Plus, they're not used to hearing me talk like that, so maybe it's partly the novelty of it that gives people pause :)
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