I have said this before, but I wasn't a particularly politically aware child. I didn't have to be. All of the women in my life were working women. Not only working, but strong, leading women in their jobs. So, for me, I never saw oppression to myself or my gender. Until I got to middle school.
There is something about being demeaned by a seventh grade boy for being passionate about what you enjoy doing that really messes you up. The first time I got made fun of for being good at and working hard at drama was one of the weirdest days of my life. I am good at drama and work hard to make myself better, how does that make me a 'nerd'? As I got older, boys jokingly asking me if I was 'pms-ing' because I wasn't in my usual happy mood began to blow my mind. I can make a baby and feed it with my own body- why the hell are you making light of that? However, nothing in the world has blown my mind more than the idea that women do not receive as much money as men do. We work just as hard as you do, sometimes through period pain, why on earth don't we make as much money as you do?
So, here's the deal: though 2016 (opposing the generalization of this year) wasn't all terrible, it was also not the best year for many reasons, but especially in its oppression of women. Hillary Clinton's campaign for president brought out some of the ugliest sexism I've ever experienced in my 21 years on this earth. And, no matter what anyone says, it proved that a woman can be better qualified for a position and still not get the job over a (far less qualified) man. This kind of sexism, this deep-rooted ideology that women are somehow less than men, is the kind that can really ruin you as a woman. What kind of future can you even conceive if a well-educated, beautifully spoken politician like Hillary Clinton can't defeat Donald Trump in her campaign for the White House?
On December 27, the world lost its Princess Leia: Carrie Fisher. This woman, for myself and many, was one of the first strong women we were ever introduced to. With her blaster gun and crazy hairdo, she defied even the smallest of golden bikinis, by being a galactic badass. Beyond Star Wars, Fisher worked to fight the stigmas surrounding mental illness and for gender equality in Hollywood. In the wake of her untimely death, I have made my New Year's Resolution, though it is not only a resolution for 2017, but for the rest of my life: IT IS TIME FOR THE ASCENSION OF THE STRONG WOMAN.
I will work, and I hope many others will too, to make sure that my children know what it's like to live in a world of gender equality. Where being straightforward and opinionated doesn't make you a bitch, where there are more women CEOs than guns in the streets, where there isn't a luxury tax on menstrual management products, and equal pay isn't just a buzz word, but a fact of life.
We owe it to the memory of one of the strongest women in the history of the world to make sure that we make strong women something to celebrate. May the force be with you, Carrie Fisher. I hope your spirit guides us to a future of equality and strength.
