in defense of the "Bond Girls"

So my troop sponsored a Father Daughter Dance last weekend with a James Bond theme. Needless to say it raised some controversy with my feminist friends. And, while I agree with much of what they think and feel about the portrayal of women in the Bond films, I have to say the whole controversy has made me think about the Bond Girls in a different light. 

I grew up in the let-your-armpit-hair-fly-free, body-odor-is-beautiful Republic of Berkeley...in the 70s. Of course I was a proto-feminist and I bought into all the messages I got about being a strong and independent woman. Now, don't get me wrong, I am incredibly grateful to all the women who paved the way for me to see myself as capable of anything and opened the doors for me to be whatever I want to be. But I also bought into some messages that I believe were not so healthy. Strong women, don't like pink, they don't do anything "girly", they can't be interested in fashion or makeup, and, unless you are a lesbian, any expression of your sexuality is all about men exploiting you. I know there are a lot of feminists who don't believe any of that crap but those were messages I took away from the women's movement without even realizing it. Which brings me to the Bond Girls...

The Bond Girls put on slinky dresses and go out into the world feeling beautiful and sexy and powerful. They own their sexuality and stereotypical femininity in a pretty major way. You (and I) may or may not agree with what they do with that power...but they sure own it. And thinking about it now, I envy them that. We women have worked so hard to open so many doors for ourselves in this brave new world. Do we have to shut the door on feeling beautiful and sexy in order to keep those doors open? Doesn't every woman deserve to experience herself as the most desirable creature in the room at least a few times in her life? To me it's not about men, it's about taking back our own sense of ourselves as sexual beings. It's about the thrill of walking into a room with the confidence those Bond Girls have that any man in the room (or woman if that's your preference) would take you home in a minute. Because if you ask me, the slinky dresses and the stereotypically "beautiful" figures are not what make the Bond Girls hot...it's their absolute confidence in their own sexuality.

And, while yes, I agree, that's not a particularly appropriate message for 8 year olds, I also hope when those girls are 20 they can channel their inner Bond Girl if they choose to... and use her to feel great about their bodies and in charge of their sexuality.

On the other hand, at 8 years old (ish), most of the girls had never seen a Bond film and they just liked the idea of getting dressed up in fancy dresses, shooting rubber band guns at bad guy targets and channeling their inner Secret Agents. Which just reminded me that kids are incredibly good at taking what works for them from just about any theme and making it their own!

Dirty Girls!

I got inspired a few months ago by seeing a friend's before and after photos for the Warrior Dash Mud Run. (For those of you who have never seen a Mud Run, it's an obstacle course for adults (and sometimes for kids)...you run a bit, go over a fence, run a bit, climb through a pit of mud, run a bit, slide down a big slide into a mud pit, run a bit...you get the idea.) Wait, goofy fun with your buddies sliming around in the mud!!!! I was totally riveted by the photos and psyched to give it a try. (Thank you Sabine for the inspiration!)

Now don't get me wrong, I have total respect for hard core mud racers (the hard core races can be 10 miles and involve things like barbed wire mazes and fields of live electric wires (what the bleep are they thinking???)) but those of you who know me know that I struggle with my sense of myself as an athlete. So for me the right place to start was with the entry level races which are 5k and not even timed. I don't know why but for some reason, my buddies who are actually athletic were psyched to try it with me. So we got some goofy socks, a team t-shirt and some Duck Tape (to help keep our shoes on...don't be thinking those nasty thoughts...sheesh) and off we went to the Dirty Girl Mud Run. To be honest, I was pretty spooked because I am very SLOOOOOOWWWW when I run and I HATE to be the one who holds everyone up. (Now I know you are about to say "oh I'm slow too" but everyone I've ever run with who says that is either lying to me or lying to themselves because I can't keep up with ANY of them for more than a few blocks!!!) But if my buddies were willing to go with me, I was going to swallow my fear of being the fat slow girl (again) and try it as a team.

The Dirty Girl is a 5K run for breast cancer and has about 8 or 10 obstacles (mud pits, water pits, giant slides, cargo nets, a wall to climb over, the usual). Turned out the Dirty Girl was a great starter race because the obstacles were pretty tame but big enough to be fun. The run was in the Candlestick Park parking lot with the final few obstacles actually inside the stadium which meant that we played in Candlestick Park the day before the 49ers played the Stuporbowl! (I admit it...I'm not a football fan...that's just one more sport I got humiliated by in Junior High. But I understand there are those among you who actually like watching a bunch of guys in different colored shirts running up and down some green grassy field chasing a ball that is too small to be seen on your average TV screen over and over in exactly the same manner as they did last week, and the week before, and last year, and the year before that...and I know, the StuporBowl is supposed to have "cool commercials" that are supposed to appeal to me... but really...the Bud Bowl? OK points to Budweiser's advertising team because I remember the campaign but not because it inspired me in any way...I only remember it because it was on enough and annoying enough to stick with me. But I digress...)

Analisa on the other hand was so excited to be on the field at Candlestick that she almost wet herself...but she refrained because she was actually doing a handstand on the field at the time :)

As we were rounding the last curve, muddy and wet and a wee bit chilly, it struck me: I not only kept up with my team, I was actually at the head of my team for a good chunk of the race. I was running down the final stretch thinking THIS is my thing! It was low key. It was fun! (The woman in front of me lost her tutu and was laughing so hard I almost abandoned my team and joined her on her run!) It was great exercise and it was interesting enough that I almost enjoyed the running.

For those of you who are hung up on numbers, we timed ourselves informally and it turned out we did the 5K in somewhere between 40 and 45 minutes. That was about the same time as I ran my last 5K which had no obstacles to slow me down. - Analisa claims that is because this sort of race is an interval run which allows you to run faster between the obstacles than if you just run at a steady pace over the same distance. (Ah yes... interval training which I totally prefer to just straight running in any case!)

All 5 of us got off the field and said..."can we go again?" I have NEVER felt that way about a run before. Normally I can't wait to make it stop! At last I have an inspiration for something I really want to do more of that will keep me training. I would like to move up and do some slightly more hard core races...but I think I'll have to draw the line at live electricity!