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By Root 452 0

Newspapers and magazines are tried-and-true methods of exercising the brain and gaining information. It is important for women especially to get our noses out of fashion and beauty magazines once in a while and subscribe to magazines such as Time and Newsweek, weekly news periodicals that will keep you abreast of what’s happening in the world around you. Read the newspaper, and not just your local paper. As I mentioned in the last chapter, if you have access to a computer, you can read almost any paper in the world for free online. All that’s required is that you register at their site, an easy step that usually means providing nothing more than your name and e-mail address, no credit cards or anything complicated. Start with the New York Times, at www.nytimes.com. Follow what’s going on in politics by reading the Washington Post at www.washingtonpost.com. These are inexpensive ways to remain completely abreast of what’s happening in the world. The same concept goes for the news we watch on television. When you’re finished watching your local edition of the evening news, switch over to the national news for a bit, then cable news programs on CNN and MSNBC, and then to BBC News. To go even further, look online for news programs being streamed from other countries. Get as much information as possible from different sources to allow you to develop an informed opinion about what you have read; blog about it, if you can find the time, and share your opinion with others, starting a conversation or debate.

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Beauty and intelligence may be relative terms, but their concepts are universal. You should strive to be all that you can and not just rely solely upon your looks or your education to open all the doors in your life. There is no bigger turnoff than a pretty woman who has nothing else to offer, one who cannot contribute anything past her physical attributes. At the same time, it is equally as unattractive to be the woman who can only offer her intellectual side when the man in your life needs you to find the vixen within, to be vivacious and uninhibited, charming and funny. Maybe he just wants you to let your hair down and wear something formfitting during your times together, perhaps wear a little makeup, get dolled up, and be his fantasy. Whether single or in a relationship, don’t be afraid to bring your brain to the party, even as you’re wearing that little black dress that lets everyone in the room know just how sexy you are!

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Recap

Everyone has an opinion when it comes to women, and one of the first to be expressed is usually based on our outward appearance.

So many of us feel the need to dumb down when in the presence of men or those we feel subordinate to.

Somehow, somewhere along the way, someone told us that we can’t have it all, and for some reason we believed it.

It’s okay to be smart when the rest of the world expects you to be only pretty, and to be pretty when the rest of the world expects you to be only smart.

You should strive to be all that you can, and not just rely solely upon your looks or your education to open all the doors in your life.

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Chapter Twenty-two

Being One of the Boys

Boys and girls tend to be socialized separately from birth. Boys are taught to conquer and are often encouraged to experience as much variety as possible before choosing a life mate. Girls, conversely, are taught to preen, prepare, and wait—wait for the right man who will come along and then their lives can officially begin. A famous line from an old Bette Davis movie, Mr. Skeffington, says, “A woman is beautiful only when she is loved.” With lines like this, it’s no wonder each gender has such difficulty understanding the other.

Exactly whom are these boys supposed to be conquering while the girls are waiting to be loved? Who’s showing them the way? From childhood on, girls lean toward other girls and boys convene with other boys, each gender debating about the other with friends who, for the most part, are equally naïve. And while it’s a great idea to bond with the same sex,