i have many pet peeves

. . .and one of them is this bumper sticker that says "well-behaved women rarely make history" that one sees around occasionally; i just saw it on a car yesterday.

for one, whoever said anyone's goal was to "make history"? that seems at least extremely egotistical and at most downright pathological to assume that one has some kind of world-historical significance, that you are so incredibly special that you will alter the course of humanity because of things you do. i reject the premise that the goal of any behavior is to make history.

second, newsflash: ill-behaved women are scorned, called names, passed over for promotions, seen as troublemakers, gossiped about and ostracized. people don't like ill-behaved women. ill-behaved women *never* make history, because they are not allowed to achieve anything. they are punished, not rewarded. people do not sign on with them. that, my bumper sticker loving friends, is a world historical fact for you. show me a history-making woman, and i will show you a woman who played very well by a whole lot of rules.

third, i suppose the idea behind the bumper sticker is to show how willing the wearer is to challenge the status quo. . .by, what? buying a bumper sticker? driving your camry to the petsmart? getting a celtic tattoo? having a glass of wine at 4 p.m.? if someone will please explain to me what the opportunities available to me are for challenging the status quo in some kind of "history making" way, and for which i will not be punished, i would appreciate it. i suspect they would not include vaguely and righteously worded announcements about my own personal perceptions of my own personal naughtiness and significance.

how about this? when i see a bumper sticker like that, perhaps i might let its owner know that this is an extremely fucking stupid bumper sticker and it makes them look like a stupid cow, and then perhaps i will inquire if i just made history by behaving so badly.

of course it would be just my luck if it turned out to be, like, patti smith or something. man, i would feel so stupid. but patti smith would never have such a bumper sticker.