Happy International Women’s Day!
Happy and Honourable Power, Love and Dignity to All Women everywhere!
What amazing creatures We are!!
Women celebrating their force for good, women are the future of a WE culture, rather than ME culture.
How often does this happen to You?
There is a heated discussion, emotions arise and words fly. We know what’s being said is unjust, or just complete nonsense, but you can’t quite put it into words. Or we know exactly what it is, but don’t dare speak our truth. Or we speak our truth, but we are ignored, disregarded or belittled.
Personal values and core beliefs are being trodden on. Everyone gets passionate about their point of view. But when we look honestly and see that the others vision, values and formulation of the subject, in anyway takes the power of perspective away from another, this is abuse. Yes very slight, very subtle. But still very real.
And these things don’t only happen between men and women, but also between women and women.
Any of these are a breech of power balance. An implication that the power is not equal for all to say their piece and play their part.
These daily dynamics overtime cut others down into tid bit tiny pieces, easy to manage, mould and manipulate.
It infleunces the way we relate, communicate and delegate. If there is any imbalance, this trickles down, seeps in and permeates all our thoughts, words and actions, and lastly our creations!
This conditioning can also be caused by women who do not see they themselves are conditioned, or refuse to see it. This is what we see when women attack, limit or try to belittle other women. Mother/daughter, friends, sisters or total strangers. No one is exempt when it’s uncoscious. ANd the trouble with the unconscious is that it’s UNCONSCIOUS! It’s only by talking about it, that we can open anothers eyes.
A ship that sets off without true direction, heads far from the desired destination.
We all have different core values and we all see those being honoured or downright disrespected according to our lens of understanding and experience.
Sure women in the west vote, drive, go to school, earn money and own their homes. But if you look deeper, men have many certain privilages, that women don’t.
Differences in women’s and men’s access to resources, status and well-being, which usually favour men and are often institutionalised through law, justice and social norms. Men earn more for each hour a woman works. Men ‘naturally’ get jobs in higher positions, they have more self confindence to ask for pay rises, extra holiday pay and bonuses. Add on to that domestic physical, psychological, sexual, verbal abuse or violence, and you discover there’s many layers to gender disparity.
This is all due to the above power dynamics which are ingrained in our psyches as infants. Boys are unconsciously taught that they can choose for themselves, go out there at get what they are after, whereas a girl will be more nurtured toward helping others and taking care of the family, house and guests.
This makes women more likely to choose not just for herself, but all included. She will sacrifice much more willingly.
In the book ‘A Path Appears’, by Sheryl WuDunn and Nicholas Kristof, you read again and again how most projects start by empowering women, through education. Most Non-Profit programmes and initiatives uplift communities in poverty by educate the women and girls, not the men and boys.
Men will more likely spend money on alcohol and sex. Whereas women will without a seconds hesitation choose the wellbeing of others, her family. She will invest in the longrun, working with others in her community, being an entrepreneur and empowering the lives of those who follow her example.
In high school I did a study of the demographics of all African countries. One thing that jumped out of that study was that in the countries where women had higher levels of literacy, health was improved, child mortality was lower, life expectancy higher and children literacy was up.
Every movement is about adressing an imbalance which has become so gross that it has degraded the human to animalistic behaviour and acts.
A women’s movement is about the inequality of two different forces, the male/female, active/receptive, expressive/experiential. It is about bringing back the balance that leads to a sustainable and harmonious life. One that chooses growth over gratification, longterm for Her family over shortterm, inclusivity instead of exclusivity, community of capitalism.
Sure we know there is a lot of injustice, imbalance and dishonesty in the world’s dire situations, disgusting abuse of power, and complete contempt for women in the world. And yes in other places we can’t compare. Sure we in most western countries feel priviliged, empowered enough to walk away when we don’t agree. Or not let it affect our lives.
But how often do we reflect on the power imbalances being played out in our own lives? How often do we take charge of this offcourse ship and steer the dynamics away from dispute, into guideposts for solutions?
What would the world be like, if I take a stand for what I believe in, not only in my heads, or in my family, but in the larger world?
We can, through our disputes and discussions, find a path that rectifies a power imbalance at hand, or in the home. Thereby empowering our selves, family, and transform and empower family dynamics. Transform our world.
It would be a WE place, rather than a ME place.
But how often do we actually take actions to really make changes, changes that impact not only our lives, but those of others by being more honest, open and curious to our level of conditioning?
If WE want to feel grounded in ourselves through understanding our human history, our roots, the good, bad and ugly, reading, understanding and soul searching, we can see how those dynamics were handed down and how we still, on some very subtle levels carry on these power abuses unwillingly, unintended.
It’s only when we dare to see how deeply woman, and man, is still to some extent conditioned to think women are powerless. Where, why and how this great imbalance, or bipolar culture has arisen from. And how we can find balanced and sustainable solutions.
We all have the expressive/receptive ability, and response-ability, to create a WE world!
Power to All Shero’s!
Jai to all those who speak their truth no matter what the consequences±!
