Women's history began as just a week back in 1978. Since 1987, the week graduated to a month as declared by the United States Congress. Well guess what? It's March and that means it's Women's History Month. A popular term known as "HerStory," as a play on words for history, represents a focus on women from a historical standpoint. HerStory Month can include speakers, musical performances, films followed by discussion, student led show or celebrations.
On Xavier University's campus, we have the pleasure of bringing SPEAK LIKE A GIRL. This event features Megan Falley and Olivia Gatwood who bring a new perspective to speaking like a girl. This feminist show is intended to educate students about gender inequality through a medium of spoken word. They use their humor as well as their passion to open the audience's eyes to topics such as catcalling, body image, rape culture and patriarchy.
The ultimate goal of SPEAK LIKE A GIRL is to make those who have been affected by the above topics feel seen, heard and validated, but also make those who haven't experienced these things feel empowered through anger to make a change.
With this being said, I haven't yet seen the performance, but with doing a little research about their performances, I'm excited to see it and would like to share what I think it means to speak like a girl.
We all know about things such as "you run like a girl" or "you hit like a girl." Why is it such a shame that I ever did or do anything "like a girl" considering I am one? The real question is what does that really mean? It's really a matter of interpretation and the woman interpreting this idea to define what it means to "speak like a girl."
To me, speaking like a girl means empowering not only yourself, but other women as well. Too often, we as women tear each other down instead of building each other up. Men (not all of them) do enough of this already, and instead of coming together to fight against it, we are always competing with one another. By learning to empower yourself, I think you become more comfortable speaking about your opinions and being yourself despite what anyone says. I know that is easier said than done because I didn't come to think like this overnight, but acknowledging the issue and identifying ways to overcome it is a step in the right direction.
Once you have inner empowerment, you can spread it to the women around you. Uplifting another women makes them more comfortable to speak out whether it's simply their opinion or a story of when they experienced gender inequality and feeling supported. The ideas that will be outlined in the SPEAK LIKE A GIRL show sheds light on the topics people don't want to talk about, and the movement starts with women.
If we rise up together, we can fight for women's equality in the world. Progression isn't going to come from men or just a few people who publicly display their opinions. It's going to have to come from the sources. This means that those who have been affected need to feel comfortable speaking out, want to fight and eventually bring other women on board. In no way shape or form do you have to be a hardcore feminist to feel that gender inequality exists because I don't consider myself a die-hard feminist. It simply is realizing the gap between men and women and as a women speaking out for the rights you deserve because of who you were born to be. In the end, it's a chain reaction that takes more than one person, and as Henry Ford said, "Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success."
