boys and girls: part 1

yesterday's rehearsal consisted of men running around stage, trying to outdo each other in feats of masculinity. they were leaping and jumping and lifting . . . and quite often falling flat on their faces. each act of courage prompted another member guy to chime in with, "well, watch this!" which caused a calm rehearsal to escalate into a poorly executed WWE match. while amusing for us as directors, it made me reflect on the art of male compeitition, which seems so deeply imbedded into men's souls. they will literally put their young lives on the line, all for the sake of impressing each other and whatever women happen to be in sight. incredible.

women compete as well, but in much more subtle ways. for example, it's been argued that women don't dress up for men, but for each other. i don't know if i agree completely, as i certainly have gotten "gussied up" from time to time for various members of the opposite sex. but i do find truth in the premise. girls are much more likely to say, "oh, cute necklace" or "i love those shoes . . . where'd you get them?" girls love to feel pretty and feminine, and all too often the females we surround ourselves with are the standard by which we judge both ourselves and others.

but if we're being honest (and i'm not entirely sure why i just used the contraction "we're," as i am writing this blog post. alone.), i think most women are in competition for one thing only: men. gentleman, this may surprise you, as you might not notice when or how we're competing. but i assure you, we've all fallen prey to it at some time or other. we won't beat each other up to gain your affection, but we will try to outwit or outdo other women whom we feel could be threats to highly sought male attention.

ironically, though i am a highly competitive person in some ways, i didn't fall prey to this sad (and i use the word "sad" very purposely) aspect of womanhood often. instead, while battling through those treacherous times deemed "adolesence," i sensed the war that was waging among women - and i wanted nothing to do with it. thus began my passion for trying to really love other women. i didn't want to be part of that competition. if that meant that i didn't receive the attention other girls did, fine. it just wasn't worth it to me. it broke my heart to see women, who were created for relationship, seemingly ruining friendships with each other for the fleeting attention of teenage boys.

[note: i am not pointing to myself as an example of what all women should aspire to be. certainly not. i could write a collection of novels on my individual struggles and sins. this is me just rambling on observations i've made over the years.]

so where does this leave us? men beating each other up. women in cat-fights.

there has to be a better answer. but i don't have one. competition can be healthy and great and just plain fun. it can drive us to feats of athleticism or better grades or new ways of curing cancer (that was allan's contribution to this post. thanks). and quite frankly, where would be without great legends of competition, all for the sake of love? camelot and a knight's tale and romeo and juliet and the trojan wars and you get the idea. so i'm certainly not for eliminating competition all together.

maybe we all just need a better perspective. is there any possiblity of us all just stepping outside the craziness that often envelopes guy-girl relationships and just take a moment and laugh? yes, let's laugh. and then realize that so much exists outside the world of male-female interaction. maybe nothing worth blogging about, but certainly some things. =)


coming soon: we're all in it for the chase . . .