MEMO TO MEN: Assertive women rock!

TO: Men all over the planet
FROM: Melissa
RE: The art of assertiveness
DATE: November 29, 2011
A male Facebook friend posted this status update yesterday: Guys like girls who are assertive.

I sat there for a moment, wondering if this was some sort of trippy, psychedelic, Age-of-Aquarius dream, because honestly, boys, I was a bit worried that this was too good to be true.
And then I realized: It was true! Said male also went on to say that it's actually a turn-off when a woman lacks assertiveness. You have no idea how utterly happy this made me, boys. For so long, women have fallen into believing the evil stereotype that they'll get a "reputation" if they're labeled assertive. A woman can be assertive in every other aspect of her life, but when it comes to love? Well, she must always be the utmost damsel in distress, letting men do all the courting. Now, I'll admit that I may be shy (OK, extremely shy...) when it comes to love, but I sometimes wonder how much of that is my actual personality and how much of it comes from societal influences. Maybe I thought my disability would be enough of an obstacle in the dating world, and to add an assertiveness personality to the mix would just complicate things even further. So maybe I held back, boys. Perhaps I held back a bit too long. After all, I'm slowly starting to realize that I sort of have quite a few years to catch up on. Maybe adding another dash of assertiveness into my bag of tricks wouldn't be such a bad idea. What do you think, boys?

But I do wonder: How assertive is too assertive? I still fear the stigma of the Eager Beaver Syndrome -- and yes, I think I've coined that term myself. Does that even exist anymore? Are there certain things you'd prefer women to be the assertive ones in?
In the end, I suppose I should just remind you again, for reinforcement purposes: Assertive women are not creatures to be feared. We're not going to pounce on you like wild lions and tigers and bears (Oh my!) in the jungle. We're more civilized than that; well, I am, at least. Sometimes, we just know exactly what (or who...) we want, and our natural inclination is to go after it. If we're being honest here, wouldn't you do the same thing? You are the ones to do the chasing most of the time, so why not let us take the lead? I do give you one warning, though: I'm pretty adorable when I'm at my most persistent, so I doubt you'll ever be able to put up much of a fight. Are you ready, boys... xoxo

[Photos via We Heart It]