Damsel in Distress

According to Wikipedia (a totally unsound resource) a damsel in distress is usually a young woman placed in a dire predicament by a villain who requires a hero to dash to her rescue.

I’m picturing the Princess off of Super Mario Brothers. I mean she is the whole reason you want to win the game right? She has a need and all the hero characters in the game are trying to meet that need. Her needs becomes a part of they’re needs to do something for somebody or someone.

As humans we have an inherited need to fulfill others needs, its part of what makes our friendships and relationships work. We need each other. We need to interact and to take care of each other. Some people have more needs others have less. You can help some people in small ways and other people in big ways.

Damsels though, their needs seem to take precedence when you are talking about the male sex. After all, the male sex likes to be heroes. They also love to do things that make them manlier or at least things that are stereotyped “manly.” A guy doesn’t even have to be interested in a relationship with a girl and they will step right up to help her change her tire or fix the lock of her door. Although it definitely helps if he is interested in being with her, it allows him to check one more thing off his list of things to do while perusing her.

Could I actually ever be one of those though? Is there a benefit to being one of those? We’ve all seen them, girls, even women, who for some reason seem to need help with everything from opening a jar to having their kitchen sink fixed. There’s not anything necessarily wrong with that. Not everyone is strong enough to actually open tough jars nor do they have they knowledge of basic plumbing.

The difficulty I find is that I am strong enough to open jars and do know how to fix kitchen sinks. I was a Daddy’s girl and my dad’s son at the same time. So I learned how to do most of those things that women usually ask men to help them with. Those traits make me pretty independent and easily able to take care of myself. Does that make me too independent though? Does it make me almost unable to receive assistance from friends or even males? Am I unable to be a Damsel in Distress?

What if a guy is not able to feel like my hero based on the fact that I am rarely, if ever a Damsel in Distress? Is there real benefit to a guy feeling needed by a Damsel?

Most importantly I want to know isn’t it nicer sometimes when the guy doesn’t have to be constantly helping out the Damsel? Is it not more appealing later down the relationship, that the woman can tend to some of the repairs and fixes that a damsel might still need him to do.

I know my bro-in-law definitely appreciated not having to install a new kitchen faucet because my sister did it. My friend Melinda’s husband likes that she enjoys throwing hay to the cattle and that’s one last thing he has to do.

So will I need help? Definitely. Will I ask for help? Probably not. Will I accept it if offered? More than likely. Will I ever truly be a Damsel in Distress? I think not.