Eat, dance, and be a daydream believer - hints for the Playful Woman

As I was rummaging through the Play Ethic site, I found this taste of womanly wisdom from Rebecca Abrams, author of The Playful Self:

How to play
Rebecca Abrams has argued that women in particular miss out on play time. She urges women to chat, eat, dance, and daydream more.

Chatting and singing
Women, she says, are conditioned not to hog conversations or make too much noise. But noise is exhilarating. Singing in the shower, loudly whistling in the street, and growling when picking up other people's clothes, are all forms of playful self-expression.

Eating
Our relationship with food is often tied up with self-esteem. Anorexia and bulimia are widespread. But food is social and sensual and, when there is no sense of guilt attached to it, is a great form of play.

Dance
Dance tends to get written out of our lives as we get older, Abrams observes, but it "combines the joy of making noise with the profound pleasure of uninhibited self-expression". The only requirement is that a person "gives herself permission to have a go".

Sex
Women are made self-conscious about sex by media preoccupation with it, fuelled with images of perfect women and perfect sex. There is still not parity between men's freedom to "play around" and women's, Abrams concludes. Having a playful sex life, especially in long-term relationships, starts with not taking sex so seriously.

Daydreaming
We stop doing this as children, but it is central to play. Dressing up and using make-up is fantasising. Anything from sewing to playing the piano indulges our imaginations.

This image of the playful woman is of profound importance to how women see themselves, and how men see women. We are far from envisioning women as playful beings. Googling for Playful Women leads not to concepts of enlightenment and empowerment, but to pornography and fashion. Ms. Abrams has a message that is difficult to hear over the din of repression and innuendo - a message that I believe to be fundamental to our revisioning of self- and social-actualization.