lisa

Isn't that just because it is expected -by society- of them; men should be strong and independent, and well able to be independent.

For women this is not even considered to be the "standard" situation, think for example of a woman in her thirties that still lives alone in an appartment... it's impossible -again, for society- to believe she does so by free will, she probably just can't get a man or something like that...

Another example: imagine a man sitting alone in a restaurant, or even better at a bar, drinking a beer... this is no strange situation, actually, in almost every bar in town, you'll probably see at least one guy, that's just sitting there, drinking his drink, minding his business (if your lucky )

The same situation, involving a woman, is considered as unnatural. We just can't believe that a woman would be sitting there all by herself, she must be waiting for someone, or --what would be the general thought in the café-- she probably wants some attention, or is waiting for a guy to approach her and to "get laid" ...

So double standards everywhere, even after all these years of emancipation!

As for your question, "do you consider yourself as an independent woman?" I most certainly do!
But not just in, or within my relationship, also in relation towards friends... I sometimes really nééd some time by myself, with no-one around, just me and my mind... On the other hand... i have to admit, that sometimes you wànt your boyfriend with you, but i don't considere this as being dependent from him... this just means that I love him very much, and then off course, you want to spend as much time with him as possible...

this does not make you codependant, this just means you love your guy a lot! which is --by the way-- a GOOD thing!