One day, I’m going to have kids.
I’ll be happy regardless of the gender, as long as my child is full of happiness and health. But I do not want my child growing up in a world where they could potentially be afraid to be themselves because who they are doesn’t coincide with societal norms. If I have a daughter I want her to be so strong hearted and open minded; brave and determined in her life. I would want my son to have those very same qualities.
Every day society forces us against each other and forces us into thinking that one of the hardest things about being a female is picking out an outfit. If that was the least of our worries, we’d all be happy, but there is so much more to being a female than that. We wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and question whether we’re enough; pretty enough, thin enough, smart enough, trustworthy enough, sexy enough, good enough…
This is a sad realization and it needs to end.
Instead of feeling envious or anger towards another female for her confidence, her beauty, or her incredible intelligence, we need to be praising other women and telling them how amazing they are. And we need to be telling ourselves the same thing.
We need mommies, daddies and the entire world telling females that it’s OK to be themselves. Whether her favorite color is blue and she likes to play in the dirt or whether she enjoys playing with Barbie dolls and her favorite color is pink, she needs to know that she is still loved and adored for who they are rather than their appearance or admirations in life.
Young women are growing up to think that their body is their power and their path to a higher power in life. They’re seeing that even when women are given the opportunity to be successful and have power, they’re not scrutinized for their ability on the job, but for their physical appearance and their female ways.
When men and women are competing in elections, women are always considered to be complaining about situations while men are only considered to be stating information. Even when women are protagonists in movies, it is still a movie revolving around a man; the woman is trying to find love, get married and have babies. And if it’s a woman superhero, she’s objectified and exists for the male audience’s pleasure.
There’s a huge pressure as a young female to look a certain way; beautiful, confident, a size 0, with a butt and a nice size rack...
Get real!
Women who have bodies like that either work their butt off every single day, they’re blessed, or they’ve had surgery to look that way. If my future daughter wants to work her butt off, in a healthy and natural way to have her dream body, then I will support her to the ends of the earth, but thinking of the pressure that will be on her to look perfect in this flawed world is a sad thought.
I don’t want her to want a “perfect” body for the attention of boys or the opportunity for a better job. I want my future daughter to pursue her passions in life for herself. I want the sand between her toes and a nice home cooked meal to make her happy rather than starving herself to look the way the models in the magazines look. I want her to recognize her own personal strengths and to genuinely compliment other females on their accomplishments or even just because.
I think all women should be true to themselves, as hard as it may be after all of the terrible ways media has made us think of ourselves. We need to get back to the place we were when we were five years old and so many of us aspired to be president some day. Women consume over 50 percent of the population in the United States and represent far less than that in politics and mostly every successful position out there.
We have to show the men making these crucial decisions about what we see in the media that we are stronger than we look and our looks do not define who we are. So let’s take a stand and show everyone that we can truly work together and make this world a better, more loving place.
