#Challenge accepted for those of you who don’t know is a challenge for women to share black and whit photos of themselves as a show of support to all women around the world. It is bringing them together to have a face and a voice, and I want to use my voice today to talk about women empowerment and what feminism is all about. As a feminist,I get asked what am I really missing as a woman that I do not have because of my gender. I am in the end, an independent self supporting woman; but it doesn’t mean I haven’t been harassed or looked down on because of my gender. If I became resilient to it and made it through just as most women have, it doesn’t mean the wrong doing did not exist. So for me, feminism is about being respected without having to use fear, and being heard without people mocking your anger. It’s about walking on the street without fearing for your life. In the end, no woman should wear, talk or behave differently because it offends some people who think it’s not our ”place” to speak up or fight back or wear “provocative” clothes.
As a coach, I believe in fighting back while still thriving despite the current circumstances, so I help women be more resilient and get through the physical or mental hurdles they may endure. I believe we have to be ourselves despite what the environment may be imposing. However, I also have a duty to encourage every woman to speak up, fight back and ask for change. Women controlling what they can and not letting the world control them does not mean we accept the world as is.
I do not and will not accept a world where women get groped or are told not to study leadership because that’s not really a woman’ s job. I do not accept a world where women are forced into child marriage or are forced to stay in an unhappy marriage just because they can’t support themselves on their own.
And, whoever is baulking right now at my feminist speech see if you’d be ok with your daughter wife or friend being subjected to any of these. I wouldn’t.
So, let’s start by educating ourselves about what is happening around the world from honor killing, to child marriage,to female genital mutilation, to verbal or physical harassment, to degrading words before we hate the word feminism. Let’s also look at some amazing businesses created by inspiring women and support them in their quest.Let’s read book, watch talks and find organizations that are doing the work.
To help with that quest, I came up with a list of people, books and pages that have inspired me and educated me in my quest to empower women.
Also, In the next few posts, I am going to talk about what can be done to fight unacceptable behavior and how we as women can protect ourselves and be more resilient.
So stay tuned and let us, together,create a better world than the one we are living in.
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Voice Within 