This may piss a lot of people off, but where have womens' faces gone? Of my 1,294 facebook friends, I have found that an alarming number of women are either experiencing a Curious Case of Benjamin Button syndrome and turning into babies, or their faces are not allowed to be posted without the face of the man in their life's also being displayed. I want to scream: "Ladies, you're beautiful (even after you've put on a few hubby/baby pounds) and I would like to see your faces! I went to high school/college/am friends with you, not an infant. Yes, babies are miracles and yours is adorable, but your vanishing identity frightens me. You have a name other than Mrs. or Mom and when I see that not a single recent picture (profile or otherwise) actually has you in it, it makes me sad."
The baby pictures are one thing, but the couples pictures crack me up as well. To me, they say: "Hey! My eyes are closed, but at least you get to see him smile." "I figured you'd want to see me sucking face with my boyfriend/fiance/husband." "Why should he care that I post on all my girlfriends' walls about who the next Bachelorette is and that I'm excited for Dancing with the Stars with his face in the picture?"
Please do not mistake my feelings for jealousy or as a lamentation of being single and childless. Let me be clear, I recognize and appreciate that not everyone is in the same place in life as I am right now. I am more than happy to buy a great gift for the shower, be in the wedding, run amok at Baby Gap, hold and play with little bambinos, and hear all about the world of marriage and munchkins. I am not happy that my facebook wall looks like babies have posted some frighteningly mature stuff.
If I am fortunate enough to have a husband and children someday, I know that that kind of love will be something new and wonderful. "Mrs. So-and-So," I'm sure I'll want to practice signing my new name a thousand times. Someday hearing my child call out for "Mom" will be music to my ears - but at no point in time will I feel that it is necessary to stop being Rachel.
