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Do I Know How to Love A Man?
This Cinderella has gotten off on the wrong foot
“I’m going to be just like Cinderella when I grow up.” My five-year-old niece, Keira, looked at me dreamily from across her bedroom.
On a recent visit to my sister’s home, I was assigned to my usual sleeping quarters: the girls’ room. There, I could sleep in Brynn’s bed while she bunked with Keira. The only downside to this arrangement is the presleep routine of watching fairy tale movies night after night to get the girls to fall asleep.
During this visit, Cinderella was the favorite.
It took me back to my own childhood, in which I also watched that movie countless times. I was enraptured with the idea of the powerless, delicate, beautiful heroine being swept off her feet by a rich, purposeful man who was determined to win her heart. I mean… couldn’t you just die? It was so goddamn romantic.
I could not wait to fall in love. I thought it was going to be just like that. That it would make me feel beautiful and graceful and delicate. That a man would sweep me off my feet and care for and protect me for the rest of our lives.
If another man hit on me or treated me badly, my man would puff up his chest and chase the offender away. He’d hold me in his arms while we fell asleep each night and…
