Today is International Women’s Day. In honor of all those who strive to make a positive difference in the world and feel they don’t measure up, I dedicate this video.
Everyone has an idea of what a “woman” is, or what she should do or be. However, there are as many ways to be a woman as there are women. We are each a unique product of our biology, lived experiences, learned behaviors, and cultural, familial, and personal beliefs about womanhood.
There is a power in being a woman. We have unique qualities that make us feminine. Many are blessed with compassion, nurturing instincts, and emotional strength. We make a beautiful fit to the unique strengths of our masculine counterparts.
Yet, throughout history society has often relegated women to subservient roles, seeing them as “property”, offering no options for livelihood without a man, and the like. Women in the 21st Century still receive far less financial compensation for the same job as their male co-workers. Many women and girls still feel unsafe walking their neighborhoods, or going places unaccompanied due to violent attack possibilities. Women worked tirelessly to receive recognition for their achievements in sporting arenas, only now to have those often taken by biological males.
Despite society’s turning women into sex objects, being caregivers and homemakers without equity of relationship responsibility, and experiencing financial inequalities in employment and relationships, women have risen above the expectations of society throughout history. They’ve proven strength to persevere during the darkest times of history. They’ve nurtured our rising generation, too often alone or without sufficient support. They’ve fought for their rights to vote, to work at any job they choose, to choose their own family planning options, and to be financially independent or interdependent. They’ve gained the right to stay home by choice, to work by choice, and to live their lives freely without constraint (though individual circumstances may be different).
However, sometimes with the fight, we may have lost our connection to our feminine energy, our divine nature, and the beauties of womanhood because we’ve had to become more like men to survive in the world. Yet, it is those feminine characteristics that make us attractive to men, that strengthen our society in ways men do not (they do it wonderfully in their own ways). Let’s remember, during the month of women’s recognition, that it is wonderful and beautiful to be a woman. We do not have to be masculine. We do not have to be neutral. We can embrace our femininity, whatever that looks like individually, and bring our power and gifts to the world. The world needs them right now!
Marianne Williamson said, “Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone, and as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Whatever you do, and however you do it, IT IS ENOUGH just to be uniquely YOU.