negative stereotype

Damaged

Bent, Folded, and Fine

During the past few months, all of my available Underpinnings time has been consumed with work on a video for the DFI Women in Deep Foundations Committee to educate women and girls about our field.  Every bit of my “Go Team!” energy has been focused on that effort, so blog posts have been moved to the side.  Until last week.

I happened to be scrolling through news headlines on my phone while sitting through a particularly painful meeting when I spotted a story about actor Ryan Phillippe’s court case.  The headline mentioned something about ex-wife Reese Witherspoon being drug into the mess, and I immediately went from zero to furious, assuming his turmoil was unfairly spilling over onto someone who had managed to pull herself out of his dysfunctional orbit.  What I found had nothing to do with Witherspoon but made me even madder.

The gist of the saga is that Phillippe and an ex-girlfriend both claim the other engaged in harassing behavior.  Text messages were brought in as evidence.  One of Phillippe’s messages to his then-girlfriend was listed in the article as,

“…you’re too great as you are bb. you’re so smart and funny and complicated and damaged, and stunningly beautiful – all traits i find the most engaging and attractive.”

And that’s where I went through the roof.

Have you noticed the use of the word “damaged” in our current culture?  It is often brought up in book reviews and synopses, describing the heroine of a touching memoir or the main character in a dark romance.  “This book explores how the damaged, fragile young artist finds her way back to creating a real relationship after she thinks she has lost all hope,” – or some such nonsense.  Movies capitalize on the idea, sometimes even working the word “damaged” into exposition.

Have you also noticed that the same word is rarely used to describe a man? No, damaged is all about women.  It’s an expression conveying tragedy or heartbreak or mistakes that somehow have managed to ruin the main character.  But ruined for what?  What does damaged actually mean?  More importantly, why has the term become accepted as some sort of romantic asset?

The word damaged typically means that someone or something is no longer in perfect condition.  To take it a step further, it conveys the idea that someone or something no longer works properly.

Either definition begs the question, “What is perfect?  What is proper working condition for a human being?”  To be more pointed about it, what is “undamaged” condition for a woman?

We all are aware of societal stereotypes regarding the “perfect” life for a woman.  You grow up in a loving house and work hard to be an obedient, accomplished young lady.  You develop into a well-behaved woman who maybe has a tasteful career or maybe doesn’t.  You have several beautiful children with a fabulous man, and you spend every last lick of energy giving them perfect lives and telling the world how #blessed you are. You are upheld as a paragon of selflessness and good sense, and you are told that you are beautiful when you spend what little time you have for yourself on getting your hair and nails done in whatever is the currently-accepted fashion.

So what constitutes damaged?  Based on my study of current books and movies using the term, damaged involves a woman who made a bad decision and took a turn off that “perfect” life route.  Damaged includes women who have dealt with emotional problems and diseases like addiction.  Damaged includes women who have been victims of other people’s problems, women who have been beaten and oppressed and ignored.  Damaged also covers women who have made a decision that led to problems, even when those problems weren’t of their own making.  Damaged is anything beyond “perfect.”

Wait – isn’t that just life? Isn’t life all about making mistakes and learning from them?  Aren’t we supposed to mature and evolve and get smarter as we get older?  You don’t do that by sitting in a bubble and conducting a faultless life unscathed by reality.

Somehow we reached 2019 and we have managed to hang onto the term “damaged” to describe women who have strayed from some outdated norm.  Let’s face it – the label is actually a shortened version of the term “damaged goods,” a phrase that used to pertain to women who were unmarriageable because they weren’t virgins.  Even if they were the victims of horrible crimes, they were considered soiled and unworthy of a respectable match.  So they were tossed out as defective, basically useless in polite society.

We have to be the advocates who reinforce the idea that women can make mistakes and have problems, just like men, and that doesn’t make them damaged.  Furthermore, we can take paths in life that are not exactly like the #blessed route AND THAT’S OKAY. That woman who struggled with insecurity in high school and developed an eating disorder?  She has learned to deal with her issues, and she is strong now.  The girl you knew who misunderstood the jackass she married and found out too late that he settled arguments with his fists?  Her scars are proof that she survived, and she can handle anything you throw at her now in your high stress work environment. And your old friend who wandered between majors in college and “lost” 10 years figuring out what she wanted to be?  She probably knows more about herself than the average bear and will navigate the rest of her life with a clear vision. And that woman you know through work who unknowingly married an alcoholic and finally divorced him, only to marry another control freak because she had lost all perspective on what a good relationship was?  Well, that’s me, and I’m just fine now.  My life probably hasn’t looked like yours, but I’ve learned a lot and I have a life full of outstanding people.

The more sinister side of acceptance of the “damaged” label is the cultural use that is disguised as a romantic tribute by men who are actually hoping to control the woman in question.  They act as though a “damaged” woman is more complex. Phillippe composed his text ode to his girlfriend as if he were saying how wonderful she was.  But by calling her damaged, he was inferring that she was less than perfect.  Men that use the term in this passive-aggressive way intend to reduce a woman’s confidence by reinforcing her imperfections, even if they profess to love those same flaws.  It’s an insidious, degrading tactic that is anything but romantic.  And books and movies that employ the same technique are no better.  We must push back against this. Enough with calling the interesting movie heroines “damaged.”  Has anyone ever called Batman damaged?  No, he’s just dark, which is exciting.

The basic problem with the use of this word is that it implies that someone is not perfect.  And that idea suggests that perfection is not just attainable but quantifiable.  We, as women of 2019, should be able to just live and work and play and love.  Perfection should not be a goal.  Someone else’s idea of perfection should be something to avoid.  And using someone else’s idea of perfection as a weapon for control should be a crime.

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