I Love Lucille Ball

It's happened at last. Week four, and I've finally been assigned my first paper of the term, due in 29 days. The assignment? A "six to seven page 'feminist' biography" with at least four sources. (Protip: If you want more than a C, write more, get more sources, and quote them.) The criteria for our subject is that she has to be an Ameican woman who lived the majority of her life in the United States, died before we were born, and led an admirable life. Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Billie Holliday, Janis Joplin, and Judy Garland are all out of the question, as well as Amelia Earhart, though she's only banned for being incredibly popular.

I wanted to do an English poet, except they're all English (duh). I came up with plenty of men I admired, as well as a few living women whose lives I'd like to exemplify. But all the dead women seemed to be dead from living wild lives full of drugs and the sorts of things I don't find admirable. But the internet is a wonderful place, and told me about a wonderful woman who fit all the criteria with flying colours: Lucille Ball.

I actually don't know much about Lucille Ball. When I was a kid, I thought people were saying "Lucy O'Ball." I knew I Love Lucy was obviously a really old show, since it was in black and white. But I grew up on "Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do!" and the "Vitameatavegamin girl."

But I'm eighteen. I'm adult, not a little girl staring in awe at a black and white TV show. I Love Lucy wasn't just a TV show, and Lucille Ball wasn't just an actress. They broke barriers; they changed our society. I didn't expect to find someone who I personally was in awe of; I don't like politics, and that's exactly why I don't like the word "feminist." But if an actress and her silly TV show can change our society and can be considered feminist, maybe I can change our society too, and maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't be so opposed to being called a feminist.

Expect many more posts about Lucille Ball in the coming weeks; I have much to learn. I was going to end with my favourite Lucille Ball quote, but I couldn't choose, so I picked a few, closed my eyes, and pointed. What I landed on was: "One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn't pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself." Pretty, funny, and smart? I think I'm in love.

P. S. I absolutely hate learning about dead people. I really wish I could meet Lucille Ball now, and I can't. She seems so incredible, but I'll never get to meet her and find out for myself. So she'll never be anything more than ideas in my head, intangible, impossible to fully grasp, and terribly elusive.