What does it mean to wear the pants? I’ve thought about it for a while, and must admit I was surprised by how stumped I was. Why? Because I know that I wear the pants, but not in the traditional sense.
It’s an old, familiar expression, traditionally interpreted to mean that the person who “wears the pants” is in charge. The person may be in charge of their marriage or family, as the common understanding goes. But let’s think about it, collegiettes™: the phrase dates back to a time when it was the norm for men to be in charge. Of everything. Even the things he didn’t know much about or was no good at – as long as he was the man, he was granted the authority. It was also at this time in which men were the only one to wear pants.
So, you have to be a man to wear the pants? I think not.
Let’s move on to the twenty-first century and redefine this, shall we? A language that is not constantly evolving is a dying one, so let’s contribute to this evolution! Thanks to some bold women (Katharine Hepburn, for one) it became much more acceptable for women to wear pants outside of the house, then to work and school, then anywhere; I always laugh when I see a girl wearing sweatpants, knowing that 60 years prior, she’d die before she’d be seen wearing them around this very same campus.
Since the term was coined, women have entered the work place, and many have succeeded. We still don’t have universal equality in the workplace, but we’re getting closer and closer. Unheard of before, many women are now the matriarch AND bread-winner for the family. If that’s not wearing the pants, then I don’t know what is!
So what does it mean to “wear the pants”? It means that you’re in charge, even if you’re rocking a skirt. But what exactly are you in charge of? Yourself. You’d be amazed at what a feat this is for some people, despite the fact that is the sole thing in this world that one can have control over. Once this is covered, the possibilities are endless: you can commit yourself to your studies, land the dream job (or the first of many jobs that lead you to your dream job – let’s be realistic, almost none of us will get that dream job the instant we get our diplomas and take our Lion Shrine photos), and lead the life you want to live. However, this is only one path you can take once you’ve buttoned up those metaphorical pants! Control over yourself means having the discipline it takes to deserve and receive the respect of others through your hard work and accomplishments. I’m keeping this vague on purpose, being that we all have different goals that require wearing the pants. So, let’s be more specific, shall we?
I wear the pants. Academics are my priority, being that an education is the most important and powerful thing a person can have. An education is crucial if I’m going to achieve my life-long career goal: change the world. Think about it: world phenomena are like voting. Unless you roll up your sleeves and participate in the process, you have no right to complain when things aren’t to your liking. The world houses more heartache and tragedy than we can fathom: starvation, homelessness, genocides, domestic violence, depression, and the list goes on and on. Since I was very young, I knew that these things could not and would not be fixed unless someone got their hands dirty and did something about them. That’s why I’m studying international politics; I want to go to grad school for international affairs. My hope is that this will lead me to a career which will allow me the opportunity to quell some of the evils in this world. I’ll never be completely satisfied with myself until I know I’ve made my mark on the world by causing some large-scale good. Though I’m not yet sure which cause I’ll dedicate myself to, I am absolutely certain of one thing…
My name is Danna O’Rourke and I’m going to change the world because I WEAR THE PANTS.