Being a Lady is not based off of how you dress it's more so based off how you act.

 The ideology of a lady is typically referred to how that woman might dress, rather than how she may act.  Not only is this something that incredibly unfortunate but it’s also incredibly biased. If a man is not dressed nicely but still has manners is he not a gentleman as well? If he is still a gentle man after this fact than why should that not be the case for women? In our current point in time, women do not dress the way they used to in the 50’s or the 20’s, they have expanded their horizons to something that would be a complete scandal if they wore what we wear now. But that doesn’t mean manners should slip away as well, right?

Manner and etiquette are something everyone should have but especially women today. It seems as if, as time went by and as fashion changed, so did manners and how we act today. Even though women are not the only ones guilty of this, rather than saying please and thank you, they prefer to demand and expect. An article from The Spruce dictates,  “ Many of the correct behaviors people once considered common sense have gotten lost in the swirling wind of bad advice, outdated manners rules, and social media that makes it too easy to slip up and be rude.”  The basic manners such as being polite and not insulting someone if they had a different opinion than you have practically vanished into the nothingness that some may consider the past. Etiquette while being a lady is about having respect, being respectful, and respectable, and not so much about following a list of very outdated rules. The social manners are fairly simple as well, a lady should be able to know how to answer a particularly rude answer without feeling the urge or need to stoop so low as to insult them back in return. By being rude it will present you as someone who doesn't care how she acts, thus losing the respect people have held for you as a person. Another thing is simply crossing or closing your legs when sitting down in a dress or shorts. It helps present you as confident and poised, thus helping other gain respect for you as a lady.

 Another type of etiquette that isn't hard to show is when eating. Whether it's at home or out in public, there are things that are considered unladylike and disrespectful which will point back to what a lady really is. There's the basics which are really ignored, such as putting away your phone when eating, placing a napkin on your lap, and even keeping your elbows off the table. As much as we are aware of these things, there we don't frequently pay close attention to how often these things are ignored and disregarded. This lowers others view of the woman (in this case) because men are not automatically expected to have these standards done at the table.

Overall, being a Lady is not based off how you dressed but rather how you act. By doing things that are as simple as paying attention to how you want people to view you and how act towards others. This includes the way you present yourself consciously and unconsciously.

Citations:

Winterbottom, Tara. Reminiscing: 1950’s Etiquette Rules That We Wish Were Still Alive and Well. Gunthertoodys, 2016. Accessed 21 May 2019.

Mayne, Debby. Social Etiquette Tips. Thespruce, 2018. Accessed 20 May 2019.