Marlo Thomas, May I Have a Word, Please?

The soundtrack of my childhood was Marlo Thomas' Free to Be You and Me.  Here are a few links...
Free to Be Foundation
Free to Be Wiki Entry

I own the cd and play it every once in awhile for myself and my kids.






  

I appreciate the message.  I know it was needed, and what seems dorky and dated to our eyes and ears was revolutionary in its day.  But some days I would like to turn it off.  I wish I hadn't enjoyed it quite so much. 

Songs deriding housework, assuming that I'll be happy (every flippin day) and that I don't need to change; really get in the way some days.

The realty for the kids to whom Marlo sang to isn't as clear cut as she may have thought it would be.  Freeing us to be the best we can be, is all well and good, but there are still jobs to do and roles to take on.  There's a realty to how much any one person can do at any one time in their life.  Degree programs and biological clocks and Churchwide leave policies and unexpected events and human frailty all tend to make the soundtrack skip a beat from time to time.

Some of what we heard as young girls was freeing.  It was needed.  I thank God for the women who stood up against the system and prevailing attitudes.  I cry at the battles they fought, and won, so that I could whine and be snarky about my plethora of options. 

But I also need to say this: 

Ms. Thomas, some of what we were taught just piled on more #@*&  to our already long list of how to be in this world.  And, I'm still trying to figure out what songs to cut off the album.