I went to French school all my life, one of my favorite words in french is a Souffragette! I won't go into a huge historical diatribe because you can find plenty of that online already, what you will learn about here is what I like to call:
The New Feminist!
What is the new feminist you might be asking over in front of you computer screen, well the truth is she a lot like ME! The new Feminist is a lot like the Souffragettes, with their passion for equality and voices being heard, but not the same as those who burnt their bras decades ago. I understand those ladies who marched and burn their bras and shun the establishments and how they fostered a newness to the new feminist that gives us a larger ability to attain the rights that those first feminists wanted.
Let me describe you the NEW feminist... she is most likely married or looking to get married. Honestly she might not want to ever get married, but she is looking to be in a committed relationship because that is what SHE wants, she doesn't want it for her parents sake, she isn't doing it to drive up her value at work and really doesn't care what those around her think, she will be married, young, old, living in with someone or living alone and sharing her space with someone who comes over to sleep. But she wants something and she's going for it!
These particularly married or not Feminists are actually bearing children and loving every moment of the idea... why because they don't sit under the bubble of what a mother does from the point of view of others, a huge shift of staying home feminists, because they don't want bigger homes, or more cars, they breastfeed, pump or bottle feed. They parent educationally, they work if it's their passion, they play because they are released of the pressures of judgements of others because they don't actually CARE about being pigeon-holed in a criteria.
These Feminists have passion... no seriously! They are driven, they work hard, they hire help when they know it's in no one's best interest for them to be in charge of this task. They read newspapers, recipe books, HTML codes, blogs and Ikea manuals... most of all they share and are social, they like it, they need it and most of all they enjoy it. They go out for drinks while the other parent is watching the child, they leave laundry baskets to be folded on the living room floor to go to the gym, because they understand that they are a priority in the grand scheme of things. They really understand the basis of SHARE in a working relationship.
Best of all... sit down, this might make you want to be one of these FEMINISTS... they are HAPPY! I don't lie, they love taking their own life into their own hands, they thrive of being in charge of their schedule, they like to pick the work they do, the activities they participate in and all in all their primary focus is being Happy because they
know that being happy is the only way to offer their best self to everyone around them; because that's what they want out of life.
So today, on International Women's Day, I encourage you to look at the women in your life and see those lovely NEW Feminist and smile at them, gifts aren't mandatory... but smile at them, because it's better than praise and
WE somehow know how to store those smiles for our own needs when we need a fix.
HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY!!!