It’s interesting that most people who call me a lady think they are being nice, being complimentary, perhaps even honoring my age, but I haven’t liked the word for some years, I don’t much like it now, and chances are great that I won’t like it in the future. Now, it’s not a huge thing, and sometimes I just let it pass. But occasionally I go into my whole explanation—even quote my own song:

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Lady, Lady

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Hey you need to know I’m not a lady,

Never have been one so I’ve been told,

And I don’t intend to be a lady,

It is just not one of my goals.

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Ladies are reined and wear white kid gloves,

Ladies try to please, oh yes they do.

Ladies are polite and speak in quiet voices

And they never stamp their feet or throw a plate at you.

Lady, Lady, Thank you, no, I don’t want to be a lady.

Lady, Lady, Thank you, but no thanks.

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Ladies have such manners and are never rude,

Ladies are quite gentile.

Ladies think of others almost all the time,

Well, I’m more interested in being real.

Lady, Lady, Thank you, no, I don’t want to be a lady.

Lady, Lady, Thank you, but no thanks.

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Hey you need to know I’m not a lady,

Never have been one so I’ve been told,

And I don’t intend to be a lady,

It is just not one of my goals.

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© Copyright 1983 by Ann Freeman Price

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As I type the words, the feelings all come back. If someone were to say to me, “You are really an interesting woman,” now that I would take as a compliment. But I believe that the concept of “lady” appears too often in the category of patriarchy, and I just don’t buy it.

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