Tag Archives: challenge society

Happy International Women’s Day—Let’s Make Change!

In case you didn’t know International Women’s Day is today, Sunday March 8, 2015 where the world celebrates females and brings global awareness to women issues.

I wrote about this day two years ago in a positive light and though I still view it as favorable, I want to know what’s being DONE about finding solutions to these issues. How are we preventing the kidnapping of women and selling them like objects into sex trafficking? How are we leveling the financial playing field on the field and in the boardroom? How are we going to make sure our girls grow up to understand that they belong in the engineering, science, government careers just as much as the boys, if not more? WHAT ARE WE DOING TO MAKE EQUALITY A REALITY? And not something that’s just talked about, donated to or rallied upon?

According to the International Women’s Day website, each year 1,000+ International Women’s Day events are uploaded by corporations, women’s groups, schools, governments, charities and individuals from around the world. Only 1,000 recorded? And only about 175 for the U.S. — I find this a bit disappointing.

There are events all over the world that are raising money and growing awareness, but are they lobbying the governments? I’ve been beating myself over the head for several years because I’m not understanding if all this money is being raised and all this awareness is being amplified, why is there little to no change? Maybe one solution: have more women run and become elected officials in government so they can look out for our uteruses’ well being, our pocketbooks stability and our overall safety.

Donating money and heightening awareness is all fine and well, but if corporations, for example, took money they were donating to these women’s rights organizations and instead gave their female employees a raise to catch up to the men in the company, would result in a greater and more instantaneous impact on equality. Just a thought, though I do encourage donating to some of these organizations. And I realize there’s not one solution to answer my eleventy-hundred questions.

However, what I do know is we have to stop attacking those who are using their public clout or “celebrity,” to bring about awareness. We have to stop making it a race issue or religious issue, instead we have to make it about coming together for the sake of equality in all its forms. If we keep attacking the millions who are speaking up, soon enough they’ll get tired of dodging the darts and start shutting up. No thank you, I quite like that people in the public eye are finally speaking out for the betterment of today’s society. We must empower each other and stand together in order to make change.

The F Word & Why We Still Need It

As you know I get a lot of inspiration for blog content from the media. And most recently, my friend sent me an article from Buzzfeed articulating “17 Reasons We Still Need Feminism.” (as told by Cambridge University Students)

It really got me thinking again about how we think of Feminism. Is it this giant F-word that gets hushed? Sometimes. Is it a movement? Yup, definitely. Is it inspiring? For me it is!

The University students, both male and female, scribbled down their reasons why they needed feminism on mini whiteboards, held their reason in front of them and posed for a photo. (Be sure to check them out here.)

My Top 5 Favorite Reasons:
I NEED FEMINISM BECAUSE…

I can make my own decisions, and my gender doesn’t mean you can stop me
I do not want my success to make me undesirable
I don’t want to live in a society that discriminates
People still say “but you’re a man” when I tell them I’m a feminist
Everyone can make their own sandwiches

Why do I need feminism?
I need feminism because I am unwilling to accept society’s stereotypes that all too often say to give up on my dreams. I need feminism because I’m tired of not seeing female leaders or protagonists in the media. I need feminism because I want equal respect and compensation for an equal success and a job well done. Oh and this…

I need feminism because…

I need feminism because I love smashing girl stereotypes into tiny smithereens in the present in order to pave the way for the future.

Why do you need feminism? Share in the comments!

It’s So Cliche [a guest post]

Today’s guest post [very first one ya’ll!!!!] is from Janna Hall of My Beautiful Catharsis and serves as reminder to all girls and women: stop being someone you’re not despite what the media is handing you daily and start being you! Because there’s no one else in this world that is better at being well…You! I couldn’t agree more! Around here at SGS we are constantly dissecting and beating those too present stereotypes to a pulp! Thanks to Janna for sharing her thoughts, inspiration and honesty!

It’s So Cliché…but “Be yourself; everyone else is taken” is a mantra that we need to carry on throughout our life. As kids, we grow up wanting to be like the girls on TV. My best friend and I couldn’t sit through a show or a movie without shouting, “I’M HER!” every time the prettiest girl came on the screen. For us, it was Clueless. From the moment Stacey Dash hops into Cher’s Jeep, we thought of every reason to ditch who we were and immediately wanted to look like, sound like, and be Dionne. Or the pink Power Ranger. Or Beyonce. Or in my best friend’s case, Britney. From a young age, we’re almost programmed to want to be everyone else, whether it’s a Disney princess, a pop icon, or the popular girl in school. It’s so wonderful to pretend, but what happens when we’re adults and realize that we’re actually not those women, nor will we ever be them? In the midst of our fantasies, we’ve grown to hate ourselves, not because of who we are, but because of who we aren’t. We aren’t those princesses. We aren’t those girls who, with one quick, flirty glance fall in love and live happily ever after with our Prince Charming. We aren’t those celebrities who have picture perfect bodies. We aren’t them. We are who we are. I am Janna. You are you. Somewhere down the path of pretending, we’ve placed more focus on the body we don’t have than our own reality. Somewhere down that path, we’ve snapped from fantasy land and traveled down the path of self-loathing. We’re obsessed with someone else’s beauty so much so that everything we see when we look in the mirror is repulsive. We’re so obsessed with someone else’s life that our own reality, no matter how fabulous it may be, seems worthless. We wander through life wanting to be someone else, while letting the person we were created to be wither away.

It saddens me to see people hate who they are. What’s the point? You will never be anyone but who you are, and to want anything but that is setting yourself up for disappointment. Society, nor a man, nor a celebrity, can or should make you feel like the person you are isn’t effing amazing. Because you are. And there’s no one quite like you.“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than you.”

Janna Hall

Graduating in 2010 from James Madison University with a degree in English, Janna left her hometown of Richmond, Virginia and headed to New York City in search of something greater than herself. That “something,” she discovered, was the position of Editor for EvolutionaryPress Publishing, helping young writers fulfill their dreams of becoming a published author. A now 7-time published editor, Janna enjoys the thrill of making dreams come true, and continually seeks ways to reach others and make a lasting impact on lives—both young and old. After spending a summer volunteering with New York Cares helping young girls prepare for the upcoming school year, Janna realized how passionate she was about seeing young girls gain confidence in their ability to succeed in the classroom and decided to use her passion to help girls succeed in all aspects of their lives. Now, she works for Girl Scouts of the USA, running the social media channels and pushing the message of building girls of courage, confidence, and character.