Hey diy Ass-kickers!
Today is International Women’s Day, and even though I don’t celebrate it with the visible energy I once did, it’s a day that presents itself as our chance to check in with what is happening in our lives just because we are women.
It’s a chance to look at what’s happening around us, in our families, our communities, our world. Then to look at what’s inside of us and get clear about where they don’t match up.
Try these questions on for size. They may seem basic, but basic is where inequality reigns free for most of us. Where we might just walk right past it, in case we piss someone off or create a scene. Start here.
Where do you get treated differently because you are a woman?
Where do people see your gender before who you are?
What do you do when you witness gender being used as a way to judge other women?
Think about your answers to those questions. You’ll know in your deep core how experiences of gender inequality have impacted you, where you have been crossed.
Just in the last couple of days, I have heard that the final choice of the Bachelor isn’t smart enough to have been the best choice. I have heard that Barbies don’t give young girls body image issues. And I have heard the backlash to the #metoo campaign and that it’s gone too far.
Big. Points. Missed. Being equal is not about a show that lines up women (and men) for the picking of one. Body image is more than about Barbie. And do we shut up about our #metoo experiences because they are uncomfortable for those hearing them? NFW.
It’s true, we’ve come a long way. But there is so much more to be done to be seen as human beings like everyone else in the world, even if some of our traits are different.
Here’s your challenge as a way to pay respect to this (and every) day.
Notice and react. Yep, I said react.
If you hear, read or experience anything that you know is detrimental to our presence as humans in this world, speak up.
Say it’s wrong. Say no. Correct the misinformation. Share your experiences. Support the victims.
Even if all you can do is to call attention to the circumstance. You don’t have to come to blows about it. (Although far be it for me to tell you how to handle yourself.) You don’t have to be an expert in all that’s feminist to speak up. You just have to connect with things that you know are wrong and say that they are wrong.
This is our existence, our experiences, our daughters and their daughters, and our sons and their sons. We need to be bottom line clear about what is ok and what isn’t ok.
So sisters, are you up for it?
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