Sunday, March 8, 2015

Happy International Women's Day

Up until this point, this blog has mainly been a platform for me to show pretty pictures of my travels and to keep friends and family updated with my whereabouts. Now, that's all good and fine, but I really want this to be a place where I can share my thoughts about things that I really care about. I think I tend to come across as a quiet, polite, and maybe even indifferent individual. And while I'm all about being laid back and generally unoffensive, please don't mistake that for weak willed or passive in any way. Part of my quietness comes from the fact that I'm in my own head a lot of the time. I observe and I think about things...a lot. And as I've gotten older I've really realized how much of a strength that is for me personally. I'm able to pretty consistently think introspectively about myself and see how my personality traits and life views play out in my day to day life. That also means that I'm always able to see where there's room for improvement. And that doesn't mean forcing myself to be different in any way that feels like a betrayal to who I am as a person, but actually that each day I can actively come closer and closer to the person I'm really supposed to be; the best version of myself. And how exciting is that? There's nothing standing in the way of me becoming a nicer person, a stronger person, a more intelligent person, a better person. Life is good.

Today is International Women's Day. A day to appreciate women: their strength, their beauty, their intelligence, their everything. As I was scrolling through my Instagram feed today, I came across a post from the always stunning beauty and fashion blogger Samantha Maria, of the picture above with the following caption:
Feminist: a person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.
(Sammi's instagram: https://instagram.com/thebeautycrush/)
I love Beyonce as much as the next person, and have listened to "Flawless" so many times its almost embarassing....except not at all because, well, its Beyonce. Duh. But seriously, I have so much respect for this song and especially the incorporation of Chimamanda Adichie's Ted Talk "We Should All Be Feminists." If you haven't seen that video, I highly recommend checking it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg3umXU_qWc

If you had asked me even as recent as about a year ago if I was feminist, I probably would have said "Eh....yeahhh" with some kind of a noncommittal "so-so" hand gesture. I realize now how ridiculous that is and I also realize that I'm not the only woman who's been reluctant to identify as a feminist simply because she's afraid of the assumptions people might make about her if she did. And how sad is that?
I truly think I'm blessed to be alive during a time when there's such a strong movement towards gender equality and women's empowerment. There's so much literature to be read, so many discussions to be had and so much love to be shared around the topic of feminism. It really is, in a word, empowering.

Today, I'm happy to say that I am a feminist. Let's all be feminists.
Peace and love to all the strong and beautiful women that have shown up in my life. You all inspire me to continue working towards that best version of myself.
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2 comments:

  1. I am all for celebrating the wonderfulness of women -- in all of their qualities.

    GW

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  2. I just watched Chimamanda's speech video. Loved it! What a fabulous speaker. I'm so proud of you, my feminist daughter! Always stand up for what you believe in!

    ReplyDelete

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