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- July 17, 2008
Lies Women Tell
“It’s a known fact that women lie about their age, but nobody wants to admit it until they get caught!” says Catharine Fennell, creative director of a website called Define Yourself.
According to a book written by Susan Shapiro Barash, women tell many lies over the course of their lives. She says “there are infidelity lies, financial lies, lies about children and their achievements, plastic surgery lies, and smaller, white lies about time and commitments that border on excuses. There are bigger secrets, the ones that require real work to maintain. Some are dark and haunting and demand a selective brand of secret telling, such as lies about domestic abuse, a drinking problem, or having a husband or child with an addiction.”
If women’s lies and secrets are used as a survival technique, it is also a means by which women get what they want. Where a man will lie for a secret as a quick fix and be sloppy in his lie, a woman will carefully guard her secret — this secret is a part of her existence, it can make her feel powerful.”
So ladies, fess up. Has lying ever been used to your advantage? As a woman in business, have you been forced to stretch the truth a bit? Is it OK to tell a lie every now and then as long as no one gets hurt?
One Response to “Lies Women Tell”
I was intrigued by your article about the lies women tell. I’ve found one of the biggest areas where women lie is about their children. Our reputations as mothers and women can be so wrapped up in how our children turn out. We can do what we think are the right things and outside influences can still win over what parents teach. So we lie. We brag about how wonderful and perfect they are whether they are or not. I used to hate hearing my friends brag about what their children were accomplishing. It is easy to pretend for a short time that things are different and problems don’t exist. But it helps to know you are not alone. So confess the truth mothers! We need each other. I think, most often mothers don’t mean to lie. They are just telling the story the way they want it to be. I can relate to that. It prompted me to write a baby boomer memoir, “Nothin’ Like I Thought”.
By Arlene on Jul 19, 2008