Women

Women of America, we are not off the hook. As far as citizenship goes, we dropped the ball big time. Without us, there would be no Dead Beat Dads! Without us, there would be no pregnant teenagers. We have to do better at choosing our mates.

You cannot tell what kind of father a man will be until he actually is a father. You can, however, figure out what kind of mate he will be by what kind of citizen he is. Good male citizens practice the fine art of self-control. They do not commit acts of violence on fellow citizens, male or female. Good male citizens take no for an answer. They might not like it, but they respect you enough not to even try to talk you into anything.

Unfortunately, not all acts of violence that take place in our country are commited by men. Women sometimes have difficulty taking no for an answer too.

Women need to have better self-control and more self-respect. Women need to learn about manners. There's a lot more to manners than how you eat at the table. By learning to practice good manners, you learn self-control.

Yes, I know, mothers cannot teach their children what they do not know. You may not even know you have bad manners. Lack of education shows up in a variety of places. The notion that all parents possess the necessary knowledge to teach their children good manners is a false assumption. People who have good manners know that it is bad manners to point out bad manners to other adults. Unfortunately, by using good manners, they're keeping a lot of important information to themselves. Thank goodness we have "Miss Manners," or we'd have no place to turn for help.

It doesn't matter if you wear pants, or your hair's cut short, or you have a more dominant nature, than a feminine one. The point is good manners are possessed by all ladies and gentlemen. Women who don't have good manners, do not get the respect they deserve. Along with good hygiene and clean living space, self-respect is a matter of manners. Unfortunately, they don't really teach classes on manners in school. Yet another argument in favor of citizenship classes. By definition, manners are the social cutoms of a society. If good manners disappear, will the society also disappear? It would seem we are on the path to finding out.

Parents are supposed to be the ones who teach their children manners. The society we have today shows what happens when a large amount of people did not have parents who were educated in this department. Oprah could devote an entire month of shows to this topic. People seem to pay attention to her. She could pick a Judith Martin book for her book club. Teachers could make Judith Martin books assigned reading in their English classes. After all, Judith Martin is an American author who needs to get at least as much exposure as Mark Twain.

It is the philosophy of this blog that good manners are the foundation of diplomacy, which in turn is the foundation of foreign policy. Good manners are how you show people that you have respect for yourself and respect for them as well.


Copyright © 2009 Annette Fortunato

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