Being a woman at this point in time isn't the worst thing in the world, but it really isn't the best. Among a sea of sexual assaults, high social standards, and horrifying murder rates, women are arguably the most hated demographic in the world. That hatred deepens with the color of their skin, often pitting women against women.
As a woman, you never really notice the way people treat you until a certain coming of age.
Society normalizes so much of the misogynistic culture that you find yourself going along with the "like a girl" jokes and internalizing much of the beauty standards that create the picture of a perfect woman you may never reach.
Your mind and body are trained against your own will to follow social etiquette that men are not forced into. You're taught to be mild-mannered and neat, as if yelling a bit and letting your hair run free will make you a "raging feminist." You step carefully around your male counterparts, unsure of their intentions and believe in reinforced ideas that if you want to be with them you cannot always be happy.
As a woman, you understand why you don't walk late at night alone, or even in groups, because you've been taught that your fragility will not stand a chance against those "boys that will be boys."
All of this put together makes you a woman in the eyes of our world and it is so easy to forget little girls are born every day into this society.
So what do you do if you have wonderful little sisters who deserve the world and nothing less, but society believes otherwise? What do you do if you have 20 years of experience as a woman and you're already exhausted, but they haven't even touched the surface?
While it may seem like a dismal experience, show your little sisters what beauty it is to be a woman.
Show them the importance of holding your own in a conversation, even when your male counterparts do not believe what you're saying is important or even that you're thinking.
Show them the importance of guarding yourself against popular beauty standards, insomuch that they know not to point out the flaws of other women either.
Show them the power of their words to span across the country, writing books, making appearances on television, running for president and standing up against their abusers in the face of the Senate.
Show them to never start the nasty habit of apologizing profusely, even when it was not their fault.
Show them how to hold themselves up and only themselves, for their strength and intelligence is not meant to be an emotional crutch for a broken man.
Above everything, show them that a woman is the most powerful thing in the world and is not to be taken for granted.
We often forget how much our mothers do for us and how much they contribute to how strong we are. Show your little sisters why the women around them are their greatest asset.
Of course, we can only hope that our little sisters don't have to go through anything we've experienced. Change, while slow and discouraging, is happening. The only way to keep it going is to teach the young women close to you what it actually means to be a woman and how they can change the world.
