The Five Advantages of Being a 'Plain Jane'

I am admittedly a ‘Plain Jane’ type or person. There is nothing interesting about me, nothing that intrigues anyone about my being and my interests are conventional and appropriate to who am I overall. I am in no way a person of interest to anyone and my character is in no means extraordinary. And that is exactly how I want it to be. Being a ‘Plain Jane’ does not mean resigning yourself to a life of indifference, content and often boredom, it actually means that your personality never gets challenged by communities and your willingness to ‘open up’ emotionally, psychologically etc. to others is within your own grasp so tightly that you only give out what you want people to see. But what is a ‘Plain Jane’? A ‘Plain Jane’ is often a woman who is considered by others to be boring, uninteresting and in nature, morals and ethics, plain and unadventurous. The way in which it is named is somewhat after the character from the book “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte - the ‘Plain Jane’ being the eponymous narrator in comparison to the character that the love interest, Edward Rochester, is interested in - the decorated Blanche Ingram.From this novel, I learnt to live with my ‘Plain Jane’ abilities and more than often, it has worked in my advantage - and so, this is what I want to go through today. Here are five advantages to being the ‘Plain Jane’ of the family.

1. Nobody asks you to be a part of deep and meaningful conversation

Often considered a burden, deep and meaningful conversation is clichéd to happen around the dinner table and often concerns things like familial connections, finances etc. if you are the ‘Plain Jane’ of the family then there will be a low low chance of anyone asking for your opinion. You can eat your meal in peace whilst watching the quietened TV in the background noise of a slow and often incredibly lacklustre and mind-numbing conversation about what goes where. It is more relaxing to do it this way and thus, you can choose to initiate these conversations around your own persons if and when you want to.

2. Disappearance from friendships are incredibly simple

Say you have outgrown someone or you are really not interested in keeping connections anymore. To disappear from this friendship or connection is pretty simple because you literally just get up and leave. As you have established your ‘Plain Jane’ persona, you are not really remembered as the leader of the group, the fun one or the one that makes decisions. You’re kind of the one who turned up and everyone was contented with and so, to leave makes absolutely no difference to anyone whatsoever. Trust me, I’ve done it tons of times and it has made me nothing but happier and happier.

3. Nobody depends on you

People don’t tend to depend on the ‘Plain Jane’ because of the fact she is normally concerned with her own life, religion, errands and the want to be a ‘good girl’. This means that the person who is asking for dependence normally seeks out a more extroverted persona whom they will believe will get the job done quicker and with more vigour. The boredom of the ‘Plain Jane’ is off-putting and seen as the malcontent whereas, in reality, because of the lack of other people depending on them, they are normally incredibly happy doing their own thing day to day without having to be there emotionally or physically for others.

4. Nobody asks you about your interests and hobbies

I cannot imagine anything more pathetic than having to sit there and tell someone about myself in conversation. As a ‘Plain Jane’ though, I rarely ever do this, and I don’t think I’ve done this for many years. Keeping your interests and hobbies as bland and uninteresting as possible to the other people involved can help you to avoid the awkward conversation and ultimately stimulate the other person to tell you about themselves. When you have established the persona of the ‘Plain Jane’ and that is what you are known as, it normally puts people off asking you about your interests as they believe you don’t have any. Whereas, in fact, you can gather information about others without giving anything out yourself.

5. Romantic relationships are never a requirement

This goes for the men too. Have you ever had anyone ask you ‘when are you going to find a partner?’ Well, if you have then you aren’t doing the ‘Plain Jane’ persona to the best of your ability. The ‘Plain Jane’ persona will offer you the ability to withdraw from this aspect of life and ultimately, you are never required to do so. You establish yourself as a socially withdrawn, often religious, introverted and housebound person and nobody asks you a single thing about why you’re single because it is now expected of you. Men, women, non-binary and others can try this.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the ‘Plain Jane’ persona is one I have perfected over the years and I couldn’t be happier because I have convinced myself that I am nobody to be interested in. I avoid awkward conversations about myself, I avoid meeting new people and I can get out of friendships and familial debates with a click of my fingers. Life could not be better in this position but obviously, it is not for everyone so extroverts - I would recommend against my advice for you.