I definitely think I fit under this curse. People who know me know that I always put others before myself, and yes, sometimes it comes back to bite me.
Let's take a step back. What is a good girl? Simmons calls a good girl somebody who is always polite, selfless, and modest. The curse is that people will walk over you, and sometimes it's not helpful to yourself or anyone else to be a good girl all the time. You don't have a full range of emotions because you're too busy being polite - so your anger builds up and you explode at improper times, or worse, you never get your anger out.
Good girls also grow up to be diminished in the workplace - they often begin sentences by "I don't know if this is correct, but this is my opinion." Do we want young women growing up to diminish themselves? Of course not!
This all leads back to how you were raised. I'm not sure how I was raised. Yes I know to put on a pot of tea whenever somebody comes into the house, and always serve food and drink on a tray, even if it's one person, but what does that have to do with giving my opinion?
I'm not sure there was enough discussion in my house when I was little to even have something to discuss. I know as I've gotten older, my parents do ask for my point of view because I generally have a complete 180 opinion than they do. And of course, if I ever do share it, they tell me I'm wrong. Is that part of this?
I have no answers unfortunately, just food for thought. If you read the book, let me know what you think.
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