Quotations and Literature Forum

"Ladylike" seems to preclude being assertive, active, silly, sexual - anything that's real or human. It has been an idea used in the past to limit a woman's behaviour.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox says it well in this poem.

Give us that grand word ‘woman’ once again,
And let’s have done with ‘lady’: one’s a term
Full of fine force, strong, beautiful, and firm,
Fit for the noblest use of tongue or pen;
And one’s a word for lackeys. One suggests
The Mother, Wife, and Sister! One the dame
Whose costly robe, mayhap, gives her the name,
One word upon its own strength leans and rests;
The other minces tiptoe. Who would be
The perfect woman must grow brave of heart
And broad of soul to play her troubled part
Well in life’s drama. While each day we see
The ‘perfect lady’ skilled in what to do
And what to say, grace in each tone and act
(‘Tis taught in schools, but needs some native tact) ,
Yet narrow in her mind as in her shoe.
Give the first place then to the nobler phrase,
And leave the lesser word for lesser praise.
~Ella Wheeler Wilcox, "Woman"

I agree with yin (as I sit here in my chair with no shirt on eating chips). While taking 'lady-like' too far is simply annoying, to have propriety is not a bad thing. It is way to show respect to your fellow humans. While I am not always a gentleman, I do my best on that 'night out' or a first date, or any other time I feel it is appropriate. Whenever this happens, I expect my date to act with the same decorum. I guess you would call it acting lady-like. And yes, I believe that my generation (those yet under 18 ) are severely lacking in this area.

edit: 8 ) without the space = , and I had to fix it...

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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."
-Aristotle