{"id":70695,"date":"2022-06-25T12:13:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-25T16:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=70695"},"modified":"2022-07-20T08:18:26","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T12:18:26","slug":"glennon-doyle-cheetah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/glennon-doyle-cheetah\/","title":{"rendered":"What Glennon Doyle’s Cheetah Story Really Means"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Does society suppress our primal instincts? How can we reconnect with our true selves? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glennon Doyle’s cheetah story from her book Untamed<\/em> explains to readers how society holds you captive. The cheetah in Untamed <\/em>demonstrates how society has limited women’s primal instincts. According to Doyle, getting back in touch with your wild sides frees you from rigid expectations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on to find out what Glennon Doyle’s cheetah story really means for women in today’s society and Doyle’s advice for breaking free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Captivity and the Pathways to Freedom <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Do you ever feel that there is a more authentic, primal self<\/a> within you waiting to be free? Author, public speaker, and activist <\/strong>Glennon Doyle has felt the same way. According to Glennon Doyle’s cheetah story, she used to feel like a wild animal in captivity\u2014conditioned not to feel, think, or trust herself until she learned how to break society\u2019s rules, upend cultural expectations, and rebuild her life. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Untamed<\/em> Cheetah<\/strong> Story: Doyle’s Inspiration<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Doyle\u2019s inspiration for her book Untamed<\/em> came when she took a trip to the zoo with her family. This is where the Glennon Doyle cheetah story originated. She observed a majestic female cheetah tamed by her keepers and trained to chase a stuffed animal around her pen. Doyle identified <\/strong>with the cheetah because she also felt that she had been held in \u201ccaptivity.\u201d She\u2019d learned to chase the \u201cstuffed animals\u201d of domesticity and conformity rather than pursue her instincts and intuition. Society had conditioned her to deny her true, undomesticated self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Doyle made this connection, she saw the cheetah looking out past the fences of her enclosure\u2014remembering her wildness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering the parallels between the cheetah\u2019s experience and her own, Doyle realized that captivity is the universal experience of women. Like this female cheetah, women have been made captive\u2014their primal instincts intentionally suppressed and devalued by society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comparisons Between Glennon Doyle\u2019s Cheetah Story and the Wild Woman Archetype<\/strong>

Glennon Doyle’s cheetah explores how women lose connection to the primal version of themselves when they become conditioned by the expectations of their society. Doyle\u2019s discussion of women\u2019s inherent \u201cwildness\u201d and their need to return to their primal state is not necessarily new\u2014Jungian analyst and storyteller Clarissa Pinkola Est\u00e9s claims these concepts are as old as civilization. Est\u00e9s explores the historical and cultural background of these ideas in The Women Who Run With Wolves<\/em><\/a>.<\/em>
 
Est\u00e9s analyzes myths and fairy tales to reveal common themes and characters that serve as mythological archetypes<\/a> in stories throughout the human experience. In these stories, the \u201cwild woman\u201d is a commonly-explored figure who resists civilization and lives in touch with nature and her soul. She often lives on the fringes of society, is not bound by its rules, and speaks the truth. Est\u00e9s says that reading about these figures can help women recognize these qualities in themselves and remember their primal nature.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pathways Out of Captivity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

After her experience with the cheetah helped her reflect on her life, Doyle identified the “pathways” that had allowed her to escape captivity. According to Glennon Doyle’s cheetah story, women must rediscover the wildness within them to regain their freedom<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glennon Doyle’s cheetah story argues that you must embrace the qualities taken away or diminished during captivity to live in your primal state. By understanding what was taken away during captivity, you can recognize and unlearn your social conditioning. <\/strong>Doyle introduces four pathways to help you identify and recover these lost capacities and instincts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n