Good Girl

張貼日期：May 14, 2013 2:10:48 PM

Good Girl

Esther Chung

     Mother’s Day is not so distant away. I remember two years ago I wrote a Mother’s Day card to my mother. I forget almost all the content of the card, but I still remember one of the sentences: “I’m not your good girl.” But what is a “good girl?” For me, it means a girl who has graceful demeanor, dignified personality, and good grades.

    Since ancient times, girls are required to have graceful deportment. I am no exception. I was always corrected by my mother when I was a child, but it seemed in vain. I was told that I shouldn’t talk loudly, or smile showing teeth. However, many people say that I’m not really as graceful as my appearance because sometimes I would talk to them rudely, or use some rough words.

    My mother always says that I’m not dignified. I’m not only rude, but also forgetful. I often break things carelessly, and forget a thing no matter it is important or not. Besides, I panic and hustle easily. An accident would make me edgy and unable to solve the problems.

    For most people good grades may not be used to judge a person’s value because people with good grades may have bad behaviors. However, for someone who has traditional thought, it is an important criterion for him or her to evaluate a person, because it is believed that students with good grades must be hard-working and diligent, which is a virtue in Chinese culture. At the year I was admitted by Chinese Culture University, my cousin who has the same age with me has already been the student of National Taiwan Normal University. The ridicule from her parents was imprinted so deeply in my mind, so was my mother’s.

    When I wrote the sentence down, I was crying. I thought I didn’t have anything that could make my mother feel proud. I would only make her feel ashamed. However, after I went home, my mother cried and hugged me. She said, “You ‘are’ my good girl, because you are my daughter.”