Wise Words from Lady GaGa

You probably never thought the phrase “wise words” and “Lady Gaga” would be used in the same sentence did you? About a year ago, I came across a quote that Lady Gaga said in an interview that inspired me. Some of my friends thought the quote was depressing and cynical and others thought, like I did, that the quote was empowering and inspirational.

“Some women choose to follow men, and some women choose to follow their dreams. If you're wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up one day and tell you that it doesn't love you anymore.”

Whatever your opinion on the quote, in a culture obsessed with romance, I think this is a harsh but necessary reality check for girls and women that are at important turning points in their lives. I, along with many of my friends, will be graduating in May. I am at the point in my life where so many girls are getting engaged, planning weddings and starting new lives with their boyfriends, fiancés or husbands.

Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing that. Now is the time that we are stepping out in to the real world and starting our future, but there are too many times that I see girls blindly following their significant others to wherever they go or give up a job or schooling opportunity to stay where their boyfriends are.

It is 2014. It is no longer just a man’s world. The percentage of women college graduates are beginning to slowly pass men’s and women are working their way into better and more important career positions every day, so why are we still compromising our futures to follow the men we love?

Although the Lady Gaga’s quote may be slightly cynical or blunt, I believe it’s a little food for thought. Why should we as women be the ones to alter our goals and dreams for our partner? Society today should be about compromise. Women have just as much opportunity to make as much money as their husbands and should believe in themselves enough to go where their career takes them.

To all young women graduating college: Don’t be afraid to follow your dreams, follow your career and follow your aspirations in a time when most young women are just following their men.

Carlye Poljacik
AU Senior