I was reading an old journal the other day, and on November 20 I wrote a single line: I fear for the girls my age because all it takes is a group of girls to laugh as I walk by to make me feel insecure.
I reflected on this because this is still relevant. It doesn’t take much to make me feel insecure. I openly support healthy self-confidence for girls of all ages, but at the same time I struggle with being self-confident every single day. I feel like somewhat of a hypocrite because of this, but part of me doesn’t think that I should feel that way.
In an open letter to Anna Duggar from a Georgia Mother, I read a quote that really resonated with me, “As for my girls, I’ll raise them to think they breathe fire.” Jessica Kirkland wrote it in the context of self-confidence, but I think it goes hand-in-hand with it.
Empowering girls and teaching them self-confidence should be something that they’re born with the right to have. I personally feel that it’s already that way, but they should feel like they have the right to like boys do. I’m beating a dead horse, but there is a gender inequality. Boys are raised empowered and entitled while girls are raised to be dainty and submissive.
We should raise our girls to believe that they breathe fire. It’s empowering. To breathe fire is to have a sort of power. It could help girls to feel more confident as they grow older, and also help them to keep that as they grow up.
According to dosomething.org, 7 out of 10 girls feel that they are not good enough or don’t measure up in some way. We need to set an example for them and light a spark within them that teaches them to be empowered and confident. We need to teach body positivity for all body types because there is no such thing as the perfect body type. What we assume is the perfect body type is what we’re told is the perfect body type by society in the media.
As a society, we are already working in a positive direction. Many clothing brands are discontinuing the use of photoshop and using models of all sizes and races in their ads. Aerie by American Eagle is one of the major companies to do this.
Let’s continue this movement. We should do as Kirkland is teaching her daughters. So listen up ladies, we breathe fire. We have it inside of us. We need to support each other and empower each other.
