So this week is all about the Women (whoop!)
What does this mean to me?
I’ve never really been a fly the flag and shout from the roof tops kinda gal.
I feel as if something has changed inside me over the past 12 months.
I think, perhaps, this is due to being a mother of a toddler.
Since MiniMonkey was born I’ve become increasingly away that our ideas and behaviours around children haven’t really changed much.
Girls are delicate flowers
Boys don’t cry
Man up
‘Don’t worry, he’s being mean because he likes you’
As a parent I am trying so hard to not use these terms (and many more) and encourage my child to be a decent and kind human being. Surely we are all encouraged to be our own person regardless of gender; so why do we still accept particular phrases being used? Of course as MiniMonkey grows up he will find his own path and see that there is that divide between men and women (unless something changes dramatically over the next 10 years).
Do we accept that it is ok for one generation to use them; but not our own and certainly not the next? I’ve written before about seeing a dad and son together in the supermarket and the child being scolded for wanting to play with a doll ‘boys do not play with dolls. You play with cars’ I was truly shocked that a father (who looked of a similar age to myself) had that belief (and the conviction with which he said it). Does that then just prove the expression that ‘behaviour breeds behaviour’?
I think encouraging understanding and empathy does fall under the bracket of feminism (for me at least), feminism comes in so many shapes and forms and never more so represented than by the wondrous Emma Watson this week when challenged that she couldn’t possibly be a feminist as she dared to get her boobs out.
If you are seen to be one thing, can you not be another?
As a woman, a mother, a sister, a daughter, a human: I want to be the best versions of these I can.
I want to be able to offer advice and guidance to those who seek it
I want to support those who do great things
I want to help my son evolve into an epic human
I must strive to champion myself
I’ve always been surrounded by strong supportive people in my family and circle of friends.
We encourage each other to be the best that we can be and never settle for second best
In saying all of this we must be conscious that we are not seen to be ‘man bashing’. A preconception I commonly see if that if you deem yourself to be a feminist then you must hate men?
Really?
Says Who?
It shouldn’t be a battle of us vs them
It isn’t a battle of us vs them
It is about everybody being given the opportunity to be on an even footing
It is about everybody being treated with respect and dignity
Do you think in our lifetime we will be in a position to say that we saw the change?
I am no expert and have no real theories to back up my ramblings today, but something I have discovered since joining the world of Instagram and connecting with so many mothers is that we are encouraging our children to be the best; and that looks different for each one of us. My hope is that when MiniMonkey is older and does start to see that there is a difference in the world, he will fight for those that don’t have the same opportunities.
Here’s hoping
Wishing you a wonderful International Women’s Day
CheekiMummy 