I thought it would be an interesting endeavor to think about how people define what they mean when they tell people to grow up. Sometimes, via context clues, people mean coming to an understanding that being a good or bad person doesn't REALLY dictate whether good or bad things happen to you. Some people mean breaking the rules and not getting caught or not ratting out friends when they break rules. Other people define it with strict gender roles. Women are grown up when they wear make up, heels, get married and have kids. Men are grown up when they are married and paying the bills and have a mortgage.
Looking online, most people define it by taking on responsibility. It's doing what needs to be done. Therefore, if a woman has kids, but her mother in law raises the first one then the oldest raises the rest of them, how grown up is she really? Also, she's not the one paying the mortgage.
Personally, I think it's laughable that wearing heels and make up are supposed to show that a woman is grown up. It would be a whole 'nother post, but they always refer to heels and make up as "taking care of yourself." Um, heels are destructive to the feet in the long term and make up is destructive to the skin in the long term so, I don't see how that could be responsible. As for having a child, it makes you grown up if you step up to the plate, but if you have a kid and then pawn it off on others, you are not responsible, no? NO.
So what do my readers think??
