What’s Love Got to Do With It?

Merriam Webster defines the word 'dame' when it pertains to females as "slang: woman, often offensive".  Obviously they never met Dame Elizabeth Taylor.  Not only is Dame her official title, she was a true old school dame, a breed of women who sadly are few and far between in this era of reality show wannabes.

I don't think I have to tell you anything about Elizabeth Taylor.  Her life was pretty much an open book - her career, her marriages, her scandals, even her philanthropic activities could fill an entire library.  All that stuff is well and good, but I loved Elizabeth Taylor because she was a dame and proud of it.  She knew knew what people thought of her every time she took another husband.  She weathered the storm when she stole Debbie Reynolds husband and then dumped him for Richard Burton.  She held her head up when people thought she was being an uppity female when she demanded a million dollars for her role in Cleopatra at a time when female movie stars were being paid peanuts.   And she didn't give a damn that people were shocked when she took up the cause of AIDS in an era when just the word scared the daylights out of people.  Nope, Elizabeth Taylor not only marched to the beat of a different drummer, she told him which tune to play and to make sure he didn't drown her out!

So What's Love Got To Do With Being A Dame?

In this day and age, trashy, diva behavior is what girls aspire to, but those bratz need to google Elizabeth Taylor to find out what they're trying, and failing, to be - in a word, a dame. 

From the time we're very young, girls are told that we're supposed to be polite and sweet and put everyone's needs ahead of ours, but some of us, like Elizabeth Taylor, break free.  If you have a friend who is a dame, you know what I'm talking about.  She's the one with the bright kids who can hold their own in a conversation with an adult.  She's the one who never has to apologize for the way she looks when you run into her at the grocery store because she knows how important it is to be presentable at all times.  She treats her husband like a king outside the bedroom and a tiger inside it.  She's female through and through.  Think Angelina Jolie.  Have you ever seen her in a tabloid story titled, "Stars Without Makeup"?  No, you haven't because she knows she's always on stage no matter where she is and she steps up to the plate.  She's a dame and the center of attention always.  It's how she rolls.

Dame Elizabeth Taylor was a tough chick, a loving mother, an award winning actress, and worried enough about the world around her to jump in and take on tough topics without worrying about the consequences to her image.  She was a little rowdy, a little bawdy, and from all accounts, a hellauva lot of fun.  It's a shame she's gone.  Hopefully we can take a cue from her and let our inner dame out.