This video says so much of what I feel going on every day that is killing me surrounding gender and our perceptions of it that are hurting our girls and women. We are lucky as women in this country to not suffer so many of the terrible things that many women around the globe suffer. But, our spirits are being suppressed. And, as a mom and a woman, I am not okay with that.
Maybe you think all the media adds don't matter, don't affect you or the women in your life or that we should simply choose to not listen to it. But, when Lucy turned to me and told me, with a look on her face like I was really dumb, "Mom, girls can't be presidents", my heart hurt. I consciously build her up and work against the forces telling her that she's less every day...and still that huge message got through to her. She can't choose what to believe at age 5, but we can choose what we communicate to her.
Let's all do what we can to tell our girls and the women around us that we are not less simply because we are female and that we are not only worthwhile for our bodies and our looks. Let's work on using words that describe who a girl/woman is, not so much what she looks like; treat females like actors, not just people to be acted upon, etc. I really want to hear your ideas for building up the women and girls around you. Please comment. And I assure you that this is not just a "woman's issue". When one group of people are being oppressed in any measure, it hurts everyone. We are hurt for each and every girl who thinks she's less intelligent or who hates her body. This is about all of us, not just the 51% of us who are female.
2 comments:
I took a Sociology of Women class at the U of O and was blown away at how unfairly women have been treated over the years. Though we've come a long way, there is still a long way to go.
It makes me so sad how much pressure society puts on women to be "beautiful." As women, its hard to escape that desire because its all around us in magazines, tv, movies, internet, all telling/showing us how to be beautiful. Women suffering physically to become "beautiful" and women suffering emotionally when they think they don't add up. It's crazy, I tell ya, but hard to escape. I wish there were as much attention focused on innerbeauty and what you can do to strengthen your mind and spirit. Then maybe more and more women could reach their potential and we'd have more women leaders.
I like how you said this is not just a "women's issue". I don't think very many people understand that though. We could be a much stronger and smarter society if there weren't so many road blocks and by road blocks I mean things that impede us from reaching our maximum potential as humans...road blocks that cause us to think that a woman could never be President, road blocks the media/society put in our way making us think that our outer beauty is more important than our inner beauty...
I wonder where we would be today if there weren't so many road blocks for women.
Amen, Dani! Thanks for commenting. I was so upset seeing that video, just reconfirms so many other things I've studied in school, on my own, or observed first hand.
The only way that our world gets better for our little girls (and boys) is for each one of us to fight the message sent to us in so many commercials, shows, etc. We each have to fight to love ourselves exactly the way we are--stretch marks, sagging arms, wrinkles, whatever! All those things are beautiful if we let them be.
On a positive note, Lucy does think that the ladies on PBS news hour are "really cool" and it's not because they look like Barbies! So some of my messages of smarts-equals-coolness ARE getting through!
(A note on make-up here...just cuz I'm thinking about it. :) I tend not to wear make-up...mostly cuz I don't like fussing over my morning routine a lot. But also because it is a way that I proclaim that I feel beautiful just the way my God made me. HOWEVER, if you love make-up and it is your way of feeling empowered, go for it! I think the real litmus test is not so much in the things we do but in the WHY we do them--i.e. are you seeking to fill some sort of emotional hole when you put on make-up or is it genuinely something you like to do? So do what empowers you and I'll do what empowers me!;))
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