Don’t be a lady

Posted by random olio

There are many days where I am not a lady. I often like to think of myself as one who can hang with the guys. I can. Yet, I am all woman. One of my favorite quotes is: “Well behaved women rarely make history.” I like to think that I am one of those women who is not well-behaved. How do I do that? Well I do not like the status quo. I say what is on my mind. I like to challenge others to look at things differently. Sometimes I behave, and sometimes I do not.

Recently I found this quote from a commencement address given by Nora Ephron, where she was speaking to her alma mater, Wellesley, in 1996:

“Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there. And I also hope that you will choose to make some of that trouble on behalf of women.”

Go Nora. I agree. If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will know that I am a feminist, a strong proponent and supporter of women’s issues. While some may think that women have it all, that we are equal to men, but in case you live in that bubble, we are not. Women still need to work together to speak up against pay inequality, gender bias, abuse against women, the list goes on. As Nora said in 1996, we need to break the rules, make a little trouble, and do it for women.

So I ask you, what are you doing to break the rules? Do you behave, or do you take a stand against gender issues? Do you raise your voice, speak out, and get others out of their bubble? Stop behaving and make history!

#Stopbeingalady

Women are badass!

Posted by random olio

The statistics are overwhelming. Violence against women is horrifying. The number of rapes, sexual acts against women, and physical or domestic violence against women is beyond believable. Yet it happens every moment of every day.

Today I do not want to talk about the violence. I do not want to think about rape or hatred against women. I want to think about love. I want to think about all the men that adore their wives, girlfriends, and daughters. I want to think about the laughter, the joy, and of all the men that encourage the women in their lives to be their badass selves. Those are the men we need to champion. Those are the men that need to stand tall and be an example for violent men. You can be a man and love your woman. You can be a man and be head over heels for your woman. Love her. Cuddle her. Allow her badass self to shine through and bless the world.

I am one of those women. My man lets my badass self shine through. He lets me be ME. Even if I sometimes makes him blush by being myself. Even if I may embarrass him. I get to be me.

Today is International Women’s Day. To all men out there, let your women shine. Let them be free. Let them be their authentic selves. Cherish them. Love them. Pamper them. To all women out there. Shine. Be free. Pamper yourself. Pamper other women. Today is a day to hug, love, and appreciate womanhood.

This song was just released today. It is called: “One Woman.”

Proceeds of “One Woman” go to UN Women.

Here are more details on International Women’s Day.

One Billion Rising

Posted by random olio

Yesterday you might have received flowers or chocolates or gone out to dinner. A day of sharing love. I have never really been a fan of Valentine’s Day. Yes, I believe in love, doting, and pampering, but I think it should happen every day of the year, not a random day in February. What I do like about February 14 is that for the past 15 years, groups of women have come together to stand for women (V-Day). Events like “The Vagina Monologues” that Eve Ensler started on February 14 many years ago. This year, when researching which initiative I wanted to support, tears filled my eyes. I found “One Billion Rising.” The first few lines on the Girl Effect website says:

“One in three women on the planet will be raped or beaten in her lifetime. With a global population of seven billion, that breaks down to one billion abused women. On 14 February the One Billion Rising campaign will call for an end to such violence.”

One billion. I am one of those one billion women. I am a survivor. You probably know more of those one billion than you realize. It could have happened to your best friend, mother, sister, cousin, or coworker.

While we rise together as a force, we need to collaborate together so the number goes from one in three to ZERO. We need to end the violence against women. This is a personal, local, national, and global issue. Violence against women will touch every single one of those one billion women for the rest of their life. One billion is shocking. Absolutely shocking, horrifying, unimaginable. My tears are ones of anguish, pain, shock, sadness. How did this happen? How is this possible?

I know it is February 15 and I am a little late to share this information, but the message needs to continue to be shared. Forget chocolates and flowers. They do not matter if a woman is given flowers on the February 14 and beaten on February 15. We need to dance, rise, educate, and raise awareness for violence against women.

Please share this message widely. Join One Billion Rising.

This link covers events that happened on February 14 worldwide.

“Year of the Girl”

Posted by random olio

Randomly the other day I was reading a publication for a time share company. An ad in this publication was for Girl Scouts. Having been a Girl Scout myself, I was interested. Upon further reading I realized that the ad was actually for: “Year of the Girl.” Girl Scouts are celebrating 100 years and they have dedicated 2012 as the Year of the Girl. What a cool idea. This year has been such a full year for women, it always reminds me that rights for women have come so far, but that we still have so much more to do for women’s rights!

This link on the Girl Scouts website, discusses the many thing that girls are doing in their community. Strong leaders, saving the earth, and many other success stories. I wanted to share a few nuggets of information from their website:

Only one in five girls believes she has what it takes to lead.

Fifty-nine percent of girls say the fashion industry makes them feel fat.

Eighty-five percent of middle-school students say they’ve been cyberbullied at least once.

Although more than 90 percent of girls in fourth grade want to continue studying math, by twelfth grade that number drops to 50 percent.

While I do not remember if my years as a Girl Scout taught me about leadership, I do remember many of the campouts, activities, merit badges, and friendships. Due to all that I learned, I am hopeful and confident that what the Girl Scouts organization is doing for girls today will help them to feel confident about themselves and create leaders for the future.

Go 2012! Go Year of the Girl!

Goodbye Photoshop, Hello Reality!

Posted by random olio

My senior year in college I did an independent class with my friend, Whitney. We developed the curriculum for our studies that quarter. The focus: The Objectification of Women in Media. We wanted to research, learn, and dig deep about what women and girls were really looking out when they looked at women in the media. Our main focus was on advertising – specifically in magazines. Jean Kilbourne was an author and filmmaker we followed; I definitely recommend reviewing her work. We went to a woman’s conference where she spoke. We did interviews, peer groups, and sessions with freshman women. We lived and breathed advertising and we learned a lot. To this day I cannot look at an ad without picking it apart.

Which is why I love this change.org petition to Teen Vogue (why is there even a Teen Vogue?) to show their models in their real form without Photoshop. They had already petitioned Seventeen magazine with this result:

“We’re really excited, because Seventeen didn’t just promise one un-photoshopped spread a month, they went even further by promising not to change the faces or body size of their models, to listen to readers’ feedback and to celebrate beauty in all of its diverse shapes, sizes and colors.”

Rock On! I love that women and girls are starting these petitions. We should live in a world that celebrates women for their real beauty. For what they look like when they wake up in the morning. For living and being proud of our curves, flaws, and differences. By having magazines print photos with models in unrealistic ways, it makes girls and women think that they will never achieve that level of beauty. The fact is they will never achieve it, because many times it is not possible. Even for the model in the photo.

We need to advertise, publish, and present images of reality. The good, the bad, and the flawed. We are all perfect just the way we are!