Tanya Danielle

At 17 she moved to Southern California to attend UCLA. In her second year she decided to forgo her UCLA studies. She never went back. She writes, "At the time my pursuit of a Bachelor's degree in History/ Art History didn't seem all that satisfying. It was interesting, but not at all compelling. She had "far too many questions about the world, and about myself.

"While growing up I encountered a lot of very clear-cut definitions of what it is to be a "good" girl or a "bad" girl. I knew it was all nonsense, but I ached to get to the bottom of why so many people chose to believe it. After years of experience and observation I came to the very obvious conclusion that many people are intimidated by women who are comfortable with both their bodies. It wasn't so long ago in US history that women aspired to nothing more than becoming wives and homemakers. The idea of women relishing their independence is still a novelty to many backward-thinking folks. It probably won't go away until most ladies behave as equals in all aspects of life. My opinion is that women diminish themselves when they expect to be provided for financially or otherwise by men. We of the female persuasion have spent decades demanding egalitarian treatment when it suits our purposes, but too many of us fail to bear the fiscal burdens and responsibilities that men are expected to shoulder.