Woven Women

Every woman has a unique and powerful story that is integral to the narrative of female empowerment, feminism. I am one of those women and I am privileged to be part of this ever weaving and evolving complex tapestry where women of multiple threads are intricately creating, for themselves and future generations, the emerging story of womankind. The word feminism is defined as ‘the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes’. However, for some the word remains laden with negative connotations from times gone by when patriarchal challenges were considered radical and a clear threat to the traditional gender roles of what many deemed a perfectly functioning system. But the archaic patriarchy is far from perfect and for centuries women across the globe have been slowly, silently and surely rejecting the predetermined trajectory that has been assigned to their collective identity as the subservient sex. When I contemplate feminism and what it means to me I find myself focusing on, not the blurred lines and baggage that continue to weigh it down, but how damn fortunate I am to be part of the emancipation of the female voice. For me, feminism is so much more than the quest for equality.

It is no secret that women are astonishing beings. We are rich in our diversity and bring varied skills to the table. We can make people, grow people, feed people, and we have an unbelievable threshold for pain- physical, mental and emotional. We are historically proven to be skilled hunters, protectors, learners and nurturers. We excel in human relations with our almost metaphysical powers of empathy that bring unlimited possibilities for mental growth. The weaker sex? We think not.

Women are gloriously multi-dimensional people and each should be encouraged to wear her badge of feminine with pride, and no two badges are the same. We are a stunningly complex group of immense diversity and our differences are our strength, not our weakness. Not only are we different to one another but within each woman there lies a myriad identities that prepare us for the endless roles that we are expected to fulfil. One of the greatest myths that I’ve been led to believe about women is that their inner complexities are something to be suspicious of, corrected even, perhaps burnt away at the stake. I disagree; my own complexities are a great strength and confirm that I am fully engaged as a human being. I can only assume the scorn for the different shades of a woman’s make up comes from a misunderstanding of what lies beneath.

My life has been greatly enriched with deep intimate relationships with some incredible women whose broad spectrum of thought and feeling empowered my own emergence as the woman I am today. There is no greater female role model than the woman who embraces, supports, cherishes and champions other women, elevating them to a place where they thrive and shine. These are the women who instil the courage in her comrades to activate their huge potential and weave into the thickening tapestry of feminism, permission to be the authentic self. Each individual woman must create her own version of womanhood, and having mentors, and being a mentor, is imperative to finding your feminist feet and speaking your own feminist truth.

Without the genuine support, reassurance, warmth and compassion of the women who surround me I would not be holding my head so high. We have fed and watered each other with permission to be ourselves. And there lies one of the many overlooked truths of women; we do actively encourage and support one another. Hell, we expect it and we are personally appalled and collectively wounded when we see examples of disrespectful behaviour towards our own kind. Of course, we all get it wrong from time to time, with a cutting comment here or an ignorant assumption there; we are but human and we must continue to progress in our crusade to strengthen the threads that bind us. We need to learn to forgive ourselves and others for occasionally not knowing how to be the perfect feminist- because who knows what that is anyway?

Our mutual schema has been one of subjugation as from birth we have absorbed the loud and clear message that we are not male enough. We don’t deserve the same rights or education or opportunities that men have simply because we are born the lesser sex. We still have first world male leaders debating whether we should have reproductive rights. (That’s more ludicrous if you say it out loud and thankfully common sense is beginning to infiltrate). Obviously equality should not be open to dispute but, for me, feminism extends way beyond equal rights. Feminism is a movement, not just for the equality of men and women, but a mass striving towards the full acceptance, embracing and celebration of the multitude of the female in all her miraculous and complex entirety. Women are extraordinary people who continue to define and redefine feminism. It’s an exciting time to be a woman and we must all support, applaud and weave ourselves into the fabric of the powerful female tapestry .