I am posting this just in time for International Women’s Day, which is today, March 8! So I am wishing all the women out there in the world a happy International Women’s Day. In honor of this day I want to start off with a quote. “Here’s to strong women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them.” In this post we talk about women and the power they have. Women are known to be soft or feminine or quiet. In fact they are taught from a young age to be those qualities. In my mom’s generation for example, the boys did shop (fixing things) and the girls did home economics (like learning to cook, do household chores, etc). The girls were also not allowed to wear pants. That was a different generation. I am not saying that home economics and shop are not important, but men should learn home economics and women should be taught to do shop. In fact, both men and women should learn both.
All of this is to say that women should be taught to speak their minds and to be loud and bold. That is why I want to keep following in my mom’s footsteps, not necessarily in the careers she has had, but in the way she works hard and never stops speaking her mind. I know I have talked about her in previous post and that is because she is my role model. She broke every mold that she was supposed to follow. Carly Simon says, “We need role models who are going to break the mold.” That is why my mom and others like Serena Williams are good role models. My mom as well as others have had careers on top of being a mother. There were points when my brother and I were younger in which she would take time off from work, but then so would my dad. They took turns over the years staying home with us. My parents are very non-traditional and that is why I love them so much.
I know this is a long post, but bear with me. This is a topic I can spend days and days talking about. The last thing I want to talk about is on the subject matter of being “bad-ass.” When you look up that term in the dictionary, the definition can be one of the following: (of a person) difficult to deal with; mean-tempered; touchy.distinctively tough or powerful; so exceptional as to be intimidating.” (from dictionary.com). It all depends on who the person is and how they grew up. Sometimes these people are badass because they had to be from a young age. I do not think of badass as something to be considered bad. Women hate being labeled as fragile like she might lose her shit (pardon my language).
It is time for a little story (sorry if you heard it before). My parents and I went to an event last year. Long story short we met Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal who made an excellent speech at this event and has done some amazing work as a Representative for the state of Washington (as it turns out she has known my dad for a long time). We ended up getting a picture with her and at one point my mom turned to me and said this what happens when women rule the world. I think what my mom meant was that women get shit done (pardon my language again). Women should not be considered to be fragile or emotional because I feel like they are more well put together than most men, especially when it comes to politics. Hillary Clinton, for example testified for 11 hours straight for the Benghazi hearing and did not flinch. Women should not be considered fragile like she is a flower and can break at any moment, which brings me to this next quote. “She was not fragile like a flower. She was fragile like a bomb.” Like I said before, I can go on and on about this subject matter.
This post and poem is dedicated to all the women out there, especially those who continue to be badass every day. And to all the hurt girls and women who are struggling we see you and hear you! I want to conclude with one final quote about loving those little girl on the inside. M. L. Stedman says, “The only thing you we can do is love that little girl as much as she deserves. And never, never hurt her!” To all the girls who are hurting, you are never alone! To all those girls and women out there, this one is for you! And we love every one of you deeply!!
Bad-Ass Woman
She is bad-ass with her armor made
Of stone and glass. She disarms any
Man that walks by. They only know
Her based on all her outer layers.
The world took her smile. She fades
Away because there are so many
Days in which she can never show
Any signs of weakness. Her prayers
Go unanswered because no one
Knows she is a good girl with a good
Reputation beneath. She is walking
Around with a protected heart and
A terrible attitude that makes us run
Away. She had a rough childhood.
Her parents yelled instead of talking.
They fought so she always shunned
Any light or love from entering in
Between her fissures and cracks.
To some she is crazy, but that is just
Because it is all she knows. What has
Her bad? Because she is used to sin
And nothing else. She craves climax
And adrenaline. She is used to lust,
But as you are looking into her topaz
Eyes she aches for something more
And she is still that hurt little girl
Who is more used to people leaving
Instead of staying. That is how she
Became bad as she will take your
Heart. She sneaked in with her curl
Of a smile, having people believing
What is heard and not what they see.