What is Women Empowerment and Why is it so Important? A few ladies told us what they thought.
Women empowerment is…
Self love. A desire to grow and evolve while still feeling completely at peace with your quirks and the little things that make you the fantastic creature you are. Seeking this inner confidence not only for yourself, but for your sisters and women everywhere. When women collectively carry, accept, and support one another, nothing will stop us.
-Maury Wiederaenders @maurysafarii -Seattle, Washington, USA
What is women empowerment? Women empowerment is everything, because in the crazy society we live in, who will encourage us to be who God created us to be? The world tells us one thing, but empowerment is us telling the truth about who we are and who we should be to ourselves and other women! Empowerment is validation, accountability, and what ignites our passion to love the world back to life! It’s vital that we empower others in order to empower ourselves! I empower and I am a testimony of what letting God can do! And he isn’t even finished! He transformed me from broken to restored. I am free from sin, addiction, and more because of His unfailing love ! May everyone reading this be super empowered! You’re a super hero if you can tap into your power!
-Sharika Thompson @sunkistpsalms -www.areahopenow.wordpress.com
Women Empowerment…..Where do I even begin? I have so many strong viewpoints on this from body shaming, political stand points, equal pay for equal work and my views as a full time single mom. I started to write with a focus in mind and then I started to go off on a tangent, but I hit the delete button to rain it back in, hopefully I managed to keep what I have on one train of thought. I believe Women’s Empowerment is not only women speaking up for one another but it is also teaching ourselves and younger generations to come to not think negatively of the woman. Such as when you see the woman in front of you at the grocery store has the thigh gap you just can’t seem to get no matter how many salads you eat or miles you put in running, so you start to think how lucky she must be. Or to train ourselves to not whisper to our friend to look to her right casually in just a minute where she’ll see a girl that was once in the same sorority as both of you, because that woman is now stocking shelves at the Target you’re shopping in. You want your friend you’re with to confirm that you are recognizing the person correctly as you try to figure out what happened to the college girl with the 4.0 GPA who was planning to run for congress some day. When instead at the grocery store we should give that other woman a compliment of some sort, be it about her hair, her makeup or her outfit. Because what is happening in the moment is truly we aren’t feeling good about ourself when in reality even at our worst every woman deserves to be made to feel like a queen, even if it’s her making herself feel that way. And if just one person starts complimenting every woman she sees every day for a month that would encourage so many more women to feel good about themselves which would encourage those women to compliment other women. As for the whispers, shut them down! If you were the friend being asked to confirm who the Target employee was say yes, that is her. Then start walking towards her and strike up a conversation with her, exchange phone numbers or at least show some sort of acknowledgement and care. Ignoring one another and talking about each other behind one another’s backs and belittling other women only allows men to think it is okay to do the same. We can no longer allow men to think that they are above women and one way to do this is to set examples. Mentoring other women and young girls is one way to making sure all know what it looks like to respect other women and how to be respected by all in this world. Katie Booton
-Katie Booton @ktbooton Boone, IA, USA
Empowerment is learning to remove guilt from the past. Creating a future by being here in the now. Empowerment after survival of multiple sexual trauma and ptsd, is looking in the mirror and allowing yourself to see you deserve happiness and are allowed love. Empowerment is truly letting your inside heal believe and allow good things so your outside manifests such a strong energy vibration that people are drawn to you. Empowerment starts when your present in the here and now.
-Samantha Schultze @iamsamanthadiane East Amherst, NY
Women often “diminish” their abilities due to fear of hearing “She’s so bossy.” “She’s a b***h.” “Why does she think so highly of herself?” Women empowerment is about ending this toxic thinking about ourselves and other women. It’s about supporting one another and allowing one another to celebrate our strengths and achievements. Own your talents. – Lauren Ellison @laurenosity Los Angeles, CA, USA
Most of my professional experience has existed in the corporate world. A world where less than 25% of women hold an executive level position. I currently work for a company that nourishes personal growth, the reason I sought out a position in the first place. I have attended meetings with former employers where I felt like I was treated like a little girl who only said silly things, perpetuating this fear to speak up because whatever I had to say would be dismissed. While I still face individuals, whether it’s a man or even a woman, who feel the need to undervalue my input – I still refuse to dial anything back or minimize my presence in a room. My moments of true empowerment are not when my ideas are finally welcomed to vocalize but when they are considered crucial and desired. It’s an amazing feeling knowing you’re contributing to a cause and have a important hand in a particular project or event – not just the quiet girl who handles the trivial tasks requiring zero brain power. This is not to say my experience and age don’t play a role in the confidence I now have but it certainly puts a lot into perspective when I eventually hold a leadership role. Don’t ignore the quiet woman in the corner, empower her with the confidence to not be afraid to share – because you never know how they can empower you.
-Trish Ceglia @tceglia Stephenville, TX, USA