Hiding in plain sight

"A woman, especially if she has the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can." So says Jane Austen. What sweet irony that a highly ironic observation made 200 years ago remains ingrained in the social psyche of a more modern time. What is it about intelligent and opinionated females that acts as nails on our collective chalkboard? And why are our representatives for the modern woman either classified as harpies or modern medusas? Can't a woman stand out amongst her peers without the ridicule of the group think tank? Perhaps it is the lack of diversity on display that frustrates me and so I wonder: can we embrace a spectrum of women that represent different viewpoints as opposed to the notion put forth by NGOs such as the National Organization of Women that we all must carry the line and believe as they do in order to properly represent our sex? Are our only options for role models Hillary Clinton or Anne Coulter? I would love to see more so of us embrace the brains we have been given and dance comfortably, for all the world to see, to the beat of our own drummers. To fling social expectations to the wind and cease to hide in plain sight.