10/15/2026
When given the option- always be a lady.
Dear Cowgirl,
I used to love wearing flowers on my hat when I rode broncs.
I always figured it reminded the guys I was a girl, plus it was something to identify me by so when I got lost after the rodeo, my travel buddies could find me again (oops).
My folks giggled at it but never said anything.
You see, my parents always taught my sister and me that we could do anything a man did, as long as we looked and acted like ladies while we did it.
Now, a little farther along in life I can honestly say we took that a little too far. I have some different opinions regarding femininity these days, but one thing hasn’t changed—the goal was never to be “one of the guys.”
I’ll never forget watching my sister shoe her horses, fix fence, or doctor a yearling with her nails painted red and our grandmother’s pearls dating from the 1920s around her tanned throat.
The goal was never to be one of the guys or to do everything they could, because the reality is, we can’t do everything they are capable of.
I cannot do all the things that men can, but I can do all the things they can’t.
I see so many girls who turn to the “rough and tough” mannerisms, attitudes, and walk because they feel they must make up for being a woman in some way, but it’s not fooling anyone.
Some of the toughest women and handiest cowboy-girls I’ve known have at the same time been the most feminine, the softest, the most gentle of spirit and the most capable.
Now, I’m not saying to wear flowers in your hair, to go buy a new lipstick color or wear pink if you hate it.
That isn’t what makes a woman feminine!
Personal style differs from individual to individual.
What I am asking, is that in the midst of a world with so much anger about the need to prove women are equals, you remember you’re not just an equal.
As a woman, you were created to be something more.
Someone tough in ways that are almost impossible.
Someone who can handle more than she should be able to.
Someone who can function with the weight of the world on her shoulders and still have a smile and hug for the little ones or those who need encouragement.
Dear Cowgirl, I am not saying not to be tough. I am not saying to not push boundaries, chase goals, or prove what you are capable of to yourself.
I am saying to remember what being a woman means, because it is a beautiful thing.
You weren’t made to be just like a man, you were made to be what he was missing.
🩷
