Ban the Boys
‘Can I bring Ronnie?’, Zo asks as sweetly as she could, knowing that I’m going to bite her head off. My rage is more than called for. It’s a girls only weekend, we’ve been meticulously planning for two whole months. Besides, which part of ‘no’ did she not get the last time she asked, less than 4 days ago? Urrgh! This time, I think I’m going to strangle her.
I love Zorah. We’ve grown up together and she’s always been there for me but my god, does she bug the hell out of me. When we were kids she wouldn’t go anywhere unless her father was dropping her or picking her up. This carried on way into her teens and beyond, till she met Ronnie – her cute boyfriend stroke fiancé stroke driver stroke professional bum. I’m serious, he doesn’t do much more than play video games and chauffer annoyingly fragile, Zo around in his Dad’s fancy Merc. Can you please grow up woman! And while you’re at it, can you also get a boyfriend with a double digit IQ.
As much as I would like to believe she is a rapidly going extinct species, the frightening truth is that Zo and her ilk are not an exception. Women like this are everywhere and they make me want to scream or shake them till they scream. Financially independent, beautiful, ambitious, reasonably well read, emitting an aura of outward confidence and yet, utterly incapable of functioning without a man. Their entire sense of self worth is derived from the man in their life, no matter how worthless he himself may be. Where does this insecurity come from? If only they could see themselves through the eyes of the world and wake up.