Middle Eastern women do wait a lot! They wait to get married. They wait for their careers to take off. They wait for an excuse to try Botox.
And then there's a growing number of women who think that waiting, coupled with helplessness, is a vulnerability best avoided.
You can spot any of these women from the brisk of her walk, the size of her handbag, and the iPhone glued to her ear while thumbing away on her bedazzled Blackberry. She is Bionic Woman, the epitome of modernity.
Bionic Woman means business and she makes it look effortlessly good. Fathers, husbands and bosses are always showing her off. She is fierce and she is fabulous, and she is no longer just a trusted side kick. In recent years, Bionic Woman has come to deal with her own share of villains to tackle, and the needy to save.
Bionic Woman is loud and opinionated, and she pulls it off with grace. She doesn't tolerate nonsense and impracticality, and the most precious jewel in her belongings is her time.
But Bionic Woman is also deceivingly patient. She will lead you to believe that her life is exactly how she planned it out to be right from the start.
On the surface she is cool, coiffed and in control, but behind her kohl-rimmed eyes and endless texting she is still waiting, just like her friends. And she would rather go grey before showing you any sign of vulnerability.
So where does she get her superhero powers from?
Ask any woman and she will gladly show you her Wish List. These are the exotic things and places that she wants to experience while she can still wear six inch heels. Things like window shopping down Manhattan's Fifth Avenue at Christmas, or laying on a Caribbean beach without a care in the world, or traveling to Japan to see cherry blossom trees during the spring. But don't expect her to fully disclose what is at the top of her list. That's because her Wish List looks more like a Waiting List.
"If I am still unmarried by X, I can build the kind of career that any man can envy"
"If I am still childless by X, my husband and I can stay living in our swanky two bedroom apartment in the city and maintain our current lifestyle"
"If I stop having children now, my existing children will be old enough to take care of themselves and I can finally travel the world"
Bionic Woman is no fool. If she is Middle Eastern and from what society calls a "good" family, it would be really hard for her to act on her Wish List the same way she attacks the To Do List posted on her laptop.
But waiting is no longer an option for Bionic Woman. She wants to get things done, she isn't willing to wait around for someone to accompany or support her.
At first, it's the insignificant things like watching a movie. The typical scenario goes something like this: she Blackberry Messages her friends on their personalized group and suggests catching the latest vampire-meets-zombie-meets-sudden death 3D flick. Her fellow Bionic Women text back saying that they are too busy or not interested in her selection. She shrugs her shoulders and heads to the least popular but decent enough cinema that she can find. Looking as inconspicuous as possible, she heads into the movie theatre, finds a dark corner seat and finally relaxes after the lights go down.
Feeling brave, she then tries dining at a table for one. Suddenly waiters are more attentive, meals arrive faster and the check is easier to decode. She thinks "OK that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."
Of course her new found bravery isn't taken so well by her family and friends. "You went to the cinema ALONE, don't you have anyone to go with?" they ask. "You ate ALONE, why?" They think that her solitary approach is like body odor; completely oblivious to the culprit.
This is when Bionic Woman secretly starts to think that she's become so good at being autonomous that people are just getting in her way.
Her family and friends rightfully worry that her independency will alienate her from society and will become a liability to her future. If she doesn't learn to depend on others, will she ever learn to be happy in her relationships, be it business or personal?
Is her independency a cause for celebration or is she heading for social suicide?
