No Plain Jane's Around Here

You know the term Plain Jane.  A Plain Jane is a woman who has an average appearance. It can also mean an object that is unadorned or unembellished.  I always thought that was how I was perceived.  Well until you get to know me at least.  

But in thinking of the term I am more caught up with the name Jane than the term plain.  Jane comes across to me as a strong name.  I mean you have to have real sustenance to be Jane.  Certainly not plain at all.  There are many Janes who people thought was plain but were women who really carried the weight.  Like Jane Hathaway on Beverly Hillbillies.    Jane Hathaway takes great pleasure in teaching the Clampetts the ways of big city life. More intelligent than her money-hungry boss, Miss Jane appreciates Jed's simple wisdom. Jane always manages to maintain her composure with the Clampetts while carrying out Drysdale's outrageous demands.

Then there is Jane Fonda who has reinvented herself from the sex kitten she was made out to be.  Showing great strength to stand up for her beliefs.  Then moving on to becoming the real star power that has always been within.  Now Jane is the actress, fitness instructor, entrepreneur, philanthropist and activist. And if you look at her her features are not outstanding...rather plain.  It is her vitality that shines through.  The spark inside that says I can do anything I set my mind to.  And that is very attractive.

One of the strongest Jane's I have seen in the last few years is Jane Lynch.  In her gym clothes zipped up to her neck and holding in her power you might think she is a plain Jane.  But oh my goodness would that ever be a mistaken identity.  Jane is an actress, comedienne, and singer. She obtained a Golden Globe Award, Emmy Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, People's Choice Award, and Satellite Award. Lynch also received the First Annual PlanetOut.com Short Movie Award, Florida Film Critics Circle Award, and Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival Jury Award. She is open about her lesbianism and was named one of POWER UP's "10 Amazing Gay Women in Showbiz".  Now that is a powerful woman and far from plain!

Well I started all of this because Jane's have been on my mind all week.  As well as the strong women they represent.  I have been reading THE GOOD WOMAN by best selling author Jane Porter.  Now she knows knows that a mother’s life is never simple or easy.  Can we get an 'Amen' to that?  We are aware of how often our lives become complicated and downright messy.  Having just hit my 49th birthday it was easy to empathize with the main character, Meg Roberts.  She has been married for 17 years and now at 47 is beginning to wonder if this is all there is for her.  Is there more?  More to live for, to love, to go after?  Tell me there are days you want to scream in frustration, knowing that as wonderful as we are there is so much more deep inside we want to experience.  When I had to stop working and rely on disability I thought it was over.  I would no longer be view as a viable person.  I lost my power.  It took me years to learn that my life was what I made it.  Not a name or position but a choice.  One that I totally controlled.  So yes, it was easy to empathize as Meg learned she too had to learn to be happy, happy within.  You can read the first three chapters online.

Then it was so wild, really wild that I also have the book JANE by Robin Maxwell.  Here Jane Porter (the character) is one we all know but never heard her voice, her story.  Come on....the most famous Jane ever.  "Me Tarzan, you Jane!"  There you go.  This is the first authorized retelling of Tarzan written by a woman and authorized by the Edgar Rice Burroughs Estate.  Oh I am so stuck in the jungle right now.  Flying through the air while seeing the most beautiful of sights.  All while being right on the brink of fear and amazement.  This is how it is for Jane when she finds she is in the wilds of Africa and having to trust her very existence to Tarzan.  Now Jane is not a simple sweet faint of a lady.  No she is strong in her mind and desires to make it in a man's world.  It is that very inner strength that has carried her half way across the world to experience this most amazing tale.

I love that another Jane is as in awe with this story as I was. What is better is that I get to share with you.  Yeah, I have a copy to giveaway.  So you too can read right along and know that none of us are Plain Janes ever! 

Thanks so to Tor-Frge for sharing and sending me not one but two books of Jane.  Also a big thanks to Penguin Group for sharing The Good Woman with me.  It all goes to show that us Jane's plain or not...all of us women, moms, sisters, daughters and grandmothers have the ability to do anything once we set our minds on it.

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