4 Cliche Quotes Women Need to Stop Using

I am about to commit a sin of epic proportions. What I am about to say will certainly outcast me, and could very well land me in prison...or, at a minimum, on the black list of every child born between the years 2005 and 2012.
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I am about to commit a sin of epic proportions. What I am about to say will certainly outcast me, and could very well land me in prison...or, at a minimum, on the black list of every child born between the years 2005 and 2012.

I hated the movie Frozen. Yes, I said it.

I watched it on a flight home from California last year. Bored, overtired, and attempting to unwind from a stressful business trip, I chose it from a list of free no-Wifi-needed movies available to me as a Delta Gold member. Figuring I was in for a wildly entertaining yet mind numbing Mulan or Little Mermaid experience, I sat back relaxed and excited that I had managed to spend zero dollars.

Within 10 minutes I had purchased WiFi and sent a group text to my mother and sister: "I am watching Frozen. Uhhh, don't get it. The sisters live in the same house and don't speak? In all these years Elsa hasn't simply explained that she can't come out of her room because of a potentially dangerous illness????? Wouldn't that be more practical??" (Clearly I was missing the point.)

Perturbed, I shut off the movie. I couldn't get past the illogicalness of the characters. But was it really Frozen's opening scenes that had struck a nerve, or was I simply projecting my own frustrations onto Elsa?

A few days before, I had been having a conversation with a friend about a man she had been "dating" for several months. The status of the relationship was, at that time, as follows:

Friend reaches out to guy. Guy ignores friend for days. Friend insists she is moving on. Friend briefly shows up at bar where guy is, and gets intoxicated. Guy suddenly texts friend at 1:30 am to "hang out." Repeat.

In describing her feelings to me, my friend drops every cliché known to mankind. "I am following my heart. It is what it is. I am living life with no regrets. C'est la vie."

C'est La huh? How about C'est la let's-look-logically-at-a-situation?

This conversation was one of many that I have had with friends or colleagues that seem to have a similar theme: some outside force deems a woman powerless to making healthy, practical, tough decisions. Said woman then uses a series of cliché quotes to either guide or excuse perpetually illogical behavior.

The reality is that women often end up settling for less than what they deserve, or less than what they truly want, simply because "that's life" or "that's what life has handed to them."

Life has not handed you a twitter argument with your ex boyfriend's new girlfriend. The universe is not giving you a sign in the form of a wink face emoji from a sleazy high school drop-out. The French did not intend for their phrase to serve as the pseudo-theme for an MTV reality show about pregnant sixteen year olds.

Perhaps it's time we stopped following our hearts, and instead started used our brains. What would happen if we stopped thinking "it is what it is," and started thinking about what it could be if we made different choices? Or stopped living life with no regrets and instead started using our regrets to help us critically think through our next challenge.

Maybe we should shut off The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Love and Hip Hop: Hollywood.

Actually, no, wait... I take that back. Surely we can better society and still keep The Real Housewives. Right, God? Universe?? Anyone???

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