I don't want to make this cliche' with the whole, "Empowered Women, Empower Women" kind of a deal because quite frankly we hear it enough and see it more than enough on social media; however, I do want to expose the harsh reality that we as women don't experience it enough. It seems to be the media wave for a woman to publicly talk about women empowerment or put women empowerment in their bio. I can count multiple occasions where I have attended women empowerment events and sat alongside a group of women that were literally just there to show face but didn't exemplify that of a woman empowering another woman.
You see women empowerment is more than telling your fellow sister, "Yasss Queen, I like your hair." Women empowerment is more than liking her post and commenting on it. Women empowerment is more than launching a women's empowerment event to make a little extra money because its trendy.
- Women's empowerment is not bashing other women for being different or unique.
- Women's empowerment is not bashing another being because they don't have a vagina.
- Women's empowerment is not screaming I don't need a man for nothing.
- Women's empowerment is not an event or something to buy.
- Women's empowerment is not creating a brand dedicated to empowering women by solely
hosting events saying you're empowering women.
I may have stepped on a few toes, but essentially I'm here to expose what was and share what should be. To some, it may not be essential to partake in women empowerment because you may feel empowered within yourself. On the other hand, you may have never experienced the effect that empowerment has on womanhood. Or you may just be so stuck in your ways that you feel as though you can't be friends with women and you don't need a woman as a friend. But truth is, we were all brainwashed at a young age to believe that women were supposed to be “frenemies”, you know like your friend but your enemy too, with one another and not befriend one another. It seems the phrase "I can't be friends with females" became more common than a wig and honestly nothing is flattering about that. To be frank, if you ever hear a woman say that then automatically run. Fast and far away.
I can recall a time when I was a young teenage girl that used to run behind men or shall I say boys and glorify the idea that I can't mess with other women like that. These boys made me feel as though I were masculine and not feminine enough while maintaining my femininity and not being too soft I shall say to hang around girls, because girls were messy and guys were simply chill.
It honestly wasn't until I was an adult and got around a group of women that genuinely wanted to see me grow, uplifted me, put me in a position to win and offered me opportunities that otherwise a girl would perceive as putting you in a position that threatened their very womanhood. This is a straight up myth. The whole concept represents that of immaturity and insecurity. Men and other races bash and degrade women enough, so when another woman talks down on a fellow woman, their simply aiding and abetting in the forceful seize of gender equality.
Women should empower one another for the very fact that it represents strength, maturity and confidence. A woman that can not collaborate with another woman is a woman that is not secure in her ability to shine bright with other women. It's a woman that feels threatened by a beautiful and strong woman. It's a woman that is not content in that of their womanhood and quite frankly it's a woman that is simply, a girl. So ask yourself: are you a woman or a girl?
- Dee