Girl Power

Don’t worry this is not going to be a post about The Spice Girls. Or, should I be apologizing? Maybe that’s what you were hoping for.

“Great people do things before they’re ready. They do things before they know they can do it. And by doing it, they’re proven right. Because, I think there’s something inside of you—and inside of all of us—when we see something and we think, “I think I can do it, I think I can do it. But I’m afraid to.” Bridging that gap, doing what you’re afraid of, getting out of your comfort zone, taking risks like that—THAT is what life is. And I think you might be really good. You might find out something about yourself that’s special. And if you’re not good, who cares? You tried something. Now you know something about yourself. Now you know. A mystery is solved. So, I think you should just give it a try. Just inch yourself out of that back line. Step into life. Courage. Risks. Yes. Go. Now.” – Amy Poehler

First off, let me say Amy Poehler’s character, Leslie Knope, is beyond amazing.

When addressing the topic of “girl drama” I often joke around about my own thoughts on this “issue”. There’s a component to the teacher trainings that I lead that I often joke around about how “When I got of High School, I thought ‘Hello, Drama Free World!'” Eh, not so much. Sure enough after college it would be time to say “bye, bye, bye” to it all. Wait a minute, what are you still doing here? As I hit the ground running into corporate America post college I KNEW that drama would be a thing of the past… Right?

I had to laugh at this one.

It seems each year the media gets more and more obsessed with the physical appearance of women. Seems kind of impossible to get MORE obsessed when they already are over the top. It also seems that girls start this obsession at such a young age – more than even before. I think social media has a HUGE impact on this and I’m sure that you would agree. It makes me scared to have a daughter someday and raise her in the world that we live in.

“If tomorrow, women woke up and decided they really liked their bodies, just think how many industries would go out of business.” – Dr. Gail Dines

Pretty true, right?

Then, if we really wanted to get into it we could think of all the women’s rights and equality issues over the years…many of which still take place today. Step outside of the United States of America for a bit and visit some other countries and we’ve opened up a million other talking points. I’ll save all of that for another day and a post of it’s own. BUT, if you’re itching for some solid facts and progression check out this article from TIME – International Women’s Day Shows Awareness is Not Enough. That should get the wheels turning.

Back to the beginning where I started with a quote from Amy Poehler. For today, I’d like to replace “great people” with “great women”. Giving us – Great WOMEN do things before they’re ready. Great women do things before they’re ready when they are empowered, inspired and supported by other WOMEN. Yes, men play a part in it, but the journey is always better with your girls by your side.

With so many bad examples of “role models” for young girls today, it’s so important to give girls and other women a positive example of what women should and CAN do.
– Be inspired by the strong women around you
– Support each other on each other’s journey – whether it’s work or personal
– Celebrate your success and the successes of others
– Know your facts – we’ve come a long way, but there’s still room for improvement

And last but definitely not least…Express yourself. Let people (insert WOMEN) know how you feel (positive/constructive vibes only). Dream big. Tell other women how they’ve inspired you. How you love what they stand for. There’s SO much positivity that can take place when great women get together. Just remember what you were taught from a very young age.. if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

After all of my rambling, let me just wrap it up with.. We live in a world that is quick to make us feel bad about ourselves and then provide products and services to just as quickly make us feel better…this whole cycle would be a little less disastrous if we, as women, could make a conscious effort to use our WORDS to make one another feel just a little better each and every day.

And before I sign off, just a little music to give you a whole lot of sass.