Facebook or Women's Brag Book?

This is going to be a controversial post perhaps. I'm not meaning to stir up any drama. I have just started realizing some societal "norms" that should NOT be normal. One of them is exactly this: Facebook is becoming a Brag Book. It is a way you can prove yourself to your family, friends, etc. All of it is in the top part of your Facebook Account-- your profile picture which should be posed just perfectly, your name which should have changed by now if you're a female (according to society's standards), your job which should have changed by status by either being more prestigious/accomplished or your job could become "SAHM."

Here's the thing, I'm not trying to be rude. I know that I have been GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY of all these things. I change my profile picture once a week probably. I wonder if I do that though so that I can prove myself to others--so that I can prove that my life is fun and satisfying? I feel like because of the tremendously big thing that Facebook has turned into, it hasn't been just pretty photos of girls at college parties anymore, it's a STATUS SYMBOL. We are supposed to look like we have the perfect life. Well, you know what? We don't. Behind your name and your perfectly posed profile picture, every single person is flawed. We all have imperfections. Maybe we try to make our Facebook appear perfect so that we can feel better about ourselves or the choices we've made? I'm not sure. Whatever it is, it is hurting a lot of WOMEN in particular.

We have been raised in a relatively modern society where we are expected to have a pretty significant career, but along with that, we are expected to get married AND have babies, all before the age of 30. Well, what happens when certain people don't accomplish all these things by or before 30? We are questioned over and over again by perfectly kind people who mean absolutely NO harm. But, here's the thing, ignorance is bliss, but I no longer want women to be ignorant to what they're doing to other women. How are we ever supposed to be seen as equal to men if we are so caught up in our petty comparisons and trying to measure our worth by a silly Facebook picture or our statuses? 

Society historically has treated women as if they all want to be a Stay at Home Mother someday. Well, not all of us want that. I, personally, DO want that. I am one of the few who want to give up her career completely and be a full time MOM. You know that only about 10% of mother's do that now? I am okay with being in the minority, it's something I've long dreamed about--since I was a child, and then all my passions and interests in college lined up with that. I love to teach art to children. How much better will it be when it's my own child?

Anyways, we need to treat each other better, women. I'm speaking directly to YOU because you know that it's true. I was friends with guys primarily until getting married to Andrew. I decided once I got married to ditch my guy friends and only be friends with girls (or Andrew's guy friends who we hang out in groups). In this new lifestyle change from being a "guy's girl" to a "married girlie girl" I have noticed a significant change in EVERYTHING-- from the way I am treated by other girls, to the way I try to make friends (people Andrew would be friends with possibly?), and I am noticing how terribly women treat each other. I was friends with probably hundreds of guys before settling down (only dated a few of them) and I can tell you from experience that I was never treated so judgmentally. No guy ever said "your eggs are drying out", okay, except ONE time, and he said it completely sarcastically, as if implying that all of our female friends were so concerned with that all the time (if you read this, Ryan, you will feel bad).

This is the end of my rant. And, yes, I will be a "SAHM" someday but I really pray that I will be completely humble about it all and not boast in my blessings. I know that I've probably done that with everything else--my traveling for sure! Maybe in my marriage, but not as much as my traveling (I was obsessssssed). I really hope that someday when I announce my pregnancy that I will not stir up any hard feelings, I will be as sensitive to others as I can be. There is no reason to boast in the miracle of childbirth for that is something entirely of God. We have no part in that really.

The end!