The Invisible Woman

A concept out there that is currently receiving a lot of buzz, in ways both subtle and obvious, is the idea of the "invisible woman." Basically, as I understand it, the idea ties into the cultural reality of women as being relegated to the shadows of life because of our society being male-dominated and our very language being male-constructed (incidentally, that "claim" is actually fact--just in case anyone raises any contestation to that point). So what are we do to?

Well, the notion of "invisibility" certainly conjures negative connotation at first blush. However, I propose that if we reframe the issue, then it can actually be construed as a positive. It is my contention that "invisible" women are neither powerless nor inconsequential. In fact, quite the opposite.

The backbone of this "invisibility," as I see it, is that women are in fact the grand puppeteers of life. We are the sort of proverbial wizard behind the curtain, responsible for shaping and manuevering the action that is played out by those at the forefront--ostensibly by the men.

While I do not advocate for or support anyone's "invisibility," I actually very much like this analogy. It seems to say that women are the more influential force in our society, we are just not overtly recognized as such. And, to that end, it seems a bit silly to fight the perception. After all, being front and center on any stage--including the stage of life--is invariably stressful. Who needs all the pressure of being in the spotlight, if you can enjoy ample autonomy and assert significant control from behind the scenes?

The problem, of course is that no one really applauds those "invisible," behind the scenes, people when the curtain comes down. It is the leading actors (or orchestrated "puppets" for the purposes of my analogy) who receive the grand reviews. And whether such reviews be good or bad is rather inconsequential since any publicity is allegedly good publicity--as any Marketing 101 book will tell you.

So the question "out there" that I keep stumbling upon in popular culture and within academic realms is how do we go about rectifying the situation? And I take an admittedly controversial stance by saying: do we need do? Is the system really "broken" after all? As with so many things on which I pontificate, this situation really just comes down to a matter of perception.

In truth (and it stereotype too for that matter), men may be arguably more ego-involved and thus "need" the pretense of power and success that come with "running" the world. Why not let them carry-on, blissfully ignorant that women are pulling their strings and prodding them along at any given step? I am, of course, speaking slightly tongue-in-cheek.

But not really. Quite frankly, I know I am personally manipulative as all get out. That is to say, I definitely fancy myself a bit of a puppet-master.

Before you judge me in horror and run screaming from my blog about the proverbial wool I have pulled over your eyes by previously touting my general morality as a person, I feel compelled to stand up for myself for a minute. I never seek to be unkind, or to inflict pain-emotional or otherwise. However, I have cried a few crocodile tears, batted my eyelashes, and/or staged a coup or two using my wiley feminine, puppet-mastery ways.

Never on my husband though. He is way too smart for that.

But I digress. Back to the issue at hand, and with regards to being "invisible": is it reward enough to be an unacclaimed mastermind? Or is it wholly unfair that women are societally encouraged to eat their humble pie in sequestered silence?

As you now know, my overall question is whether or not this "invisibility" is a good thing, a bad thing, or maybe a neutral thing. Just a thing, thing, if you will.

It being Friday, and my choosing to be an optimist, then I currently view it as a positive thing. I say that "invisible" or not, the truth remains that there is much to be lauded about a reliable constant that slips past the hoi-polloi and subtly shapes lives and generally paints a prettier picture for us all. What might seem unjust is that overt credit for such indispensability is never ascribed.

Stay-tuned folks because that actually might be my stance the next go-round on this topic.

For today though . . . Basically, as I consider the ways women are working under wraps to smoothe out life's bumps and shape situations, I realize how undeniably necessary such work actually is. There is much to be said about the crucial nature of a proper foundation.

Of course, re-reading this opining of mine, I realize that I am making it sounds as though women are the personified version of that underwear/ girdle contraption one might wear under a formal dress.

So maybe there you have it, the golden nugget of the day: women are Spanx.

Not such a bad analogy after all. Because, ironically, those puppety men have no concept of how effective, essential, and life-changing the proper underpinnings actually are, do they?