Women of Texas



When I think of Texas women, I think of the "We Can Do It" poster.

Texas women are beautiful, strong-willed, soft-hearted, and tough.

For my English literature class, my professor asked us to read some Texas literature essays.  I stumbled upon the essay, "Texas Women: True Grit and All the Rest," by Molly Ivins.  I found myself agreeing with Ms. Ivins on her thoughts about Texas women.  After all, she and I both grew up as women in Texas.

Ms. Ivins wrote about childhood desires as a Texas girl that I remember desiring for myself.  For example, Ms. Ivins stated, "We'd all rather be blonde" (Ivins 699).   For whatever reason, men all over the world expect Texas women to be cute, tan, and blonde.  And somehow, blonde is supposed to be better than any other hair color.  I still do not know why blonde hair is more desirable in Texas women.  What I do know is blonde hair is more desired by men and I am not blonde.  My hair is as dark as midnight.  Therefore, I did grow up wanting silky yellow hair.  What is it about blonde hair?  Have our Texas men become so obsessed with the culture that they identify blonde hair with the yellow rose of Texas? (I laugh as I type because our cowboys are very proud of their roots).

Another expectation placed on Texas women is to be a cheerleader.  Every little girl in Texas dreams of two things: blonde hair and being a cheerleader.  Ms. Ivin agrees when she says, "...which most Texas girls still want to be cheerleader and can be observed at every high school, every September" (Ivins 700).  Again, I question if this desire comes from men.  Texas men love their football. They also love their Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders.  So, little girls grow up watching the men in their lives "oooing" and "ahhing" over the blonde Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders.  From that moment on, the little girls make up their mind they want to be desired like that too, so they decide they are going to be blonde, tan, and a cheerleader.

Here is a visual of a little Texas girl's dream:

Yep, there is the blonde smack-dab in the middle.

Now, how have Texas women become labeled as strong-willed, soft-hearted, and tough?  I will tell you.  The labels of being cute, tan, and blonde have made us fight for something better, something stronger.  We refuse to be just cute, just tan, and just blonde.  We want to be beautiful and strong, but sweet.  However, the labels aren't the only things that have made us strong.  It is the Texas men that have made us overcome their dusty labels of us.  Let me describe a Texas man to you.  He drives a truck, owns several guns, keeps a beer in his console, and has a free-spirit.  Ms. Ivin agrees.  She describes Texas men as, "...Redneckus texensis, that remarkable tribe that has made the pickup truck with the gun rack across the back window and the beer cans flying out the window..." (Ivins 699).  Imagine a strong, tall, and drunk man with a gun in his hand.  That is what we, Texas women, see a man as growing up.  We have had to fight with fists against some drunkards, use our soft hearts to convince them to put the gun down, and tie in our strong-wills to let them know we won't go down without a fight.  Ms. Ivins relates, "We can cope with put-downs and come-ons, with preachers and hustlers, with drunks and cowboys" (Ivins 703).

 We, Texas women, are beautiful, strong-willed, soft-hearted, and tough.  Or as Ms. Ivins says, "Mostly Texas women are tough in some very fundamental ways.  Not unfeminine, nor necessarily unladylike, just tough" (Ivins 703).

So bring it on with the labels, fists, and hustling.  We Texas women have something to show you.

We are Texas Women.

Works Cited:

Ivins, Molly. "Texas Women: True Grit and All the Rest." Lone Star Literature: From the Red River to the Rio Grande: A Texas Anthology. Ed. Don Graham. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company. 699-703. Print.

“Don’t Mess With Texas Women.” Online image. Texas Trading Post. 22 November 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=852&tbm=isch&tbnid=9mPFw8RTeyON0M:&imgrefurl=http://www.txtraders.com/shop/item.aspx%3Fitemid 3D1468&docid=t1nRiwOEqXnNLM&imgurl=http://www.txtraders.com/images/signdmwtxwomen.jpg&w=640&h=480&ei=jeLLTs7JPI_qtgewqchy&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=187&sig=110961653421321735919&page=1&tbnh=140&tbnw=189&start=0&ndsp=25&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&tx=87&ty=97>.

“Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders” Online image. Football Fashion. 22 November 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1280&bih=852&tbm=isch&tbnid=-P7BPCgGe1prnM:&imgrefurl=http://footballfashion.org/wordpress/tag/dallas-cowboys-cheerleaders/&docid=zgO_f4rZmG5iyM&imgurl=http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt232/footballer2010/dallas_cowboys_cheerleaders.jpg&w=600&h=413&ei=nevLTv_gIcfMtgfZpqxn&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=384&vpy=469&dur=4594&hovh=186&hovw=271&tx=156&ty=133&sig=110961653421321735919&page=2&tbnh=128&tbnw=193&start=26&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:26>.

“We Can Do It Poster.” Online image. Wikipedia. 22 November 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=852&tbm=isch&tbnid=PzW0R57WAHcU0M:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosie_the_Riveter&docid=fTthP7Gg13d70M&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/We_Can_Do_It!.jpg/220px-We_Can_Do_It!.jpg&w=220&h=285&ei=GezLTs7wMomWtwe7sPCdAQ&zoom=1>.