Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash
Happy International Women's Day everyone! Today is a day we celebrate us. We look up to the women before us, grow into the woman we want to be right now, and build up the next generation.
Women go through a lot. We should also look at the women who around the world still doesn't have any rights. To education, to finances, or even going outside. I want us to reflect on those of us who continue to break barriers of what a "woman" once was. We appreciate you. Because of the strides you took, we are able to vote, to work at a company that was male- dominated and also not even "made" for women. We are able to live life the way we want to, but I know that is also only in first-world countries so there is still some work to do.
I want you to look at those little girls around you and to continue to be the best version of yourself, because trust me they are watching.
There are many women I look up to in awe because of who they became. But I want to also talk about some fictional characters. When I was growing up, I looked up to Mulan, Belle, and Elle Woods. Mulan was brave, she went to a war disguised as a man to save her father who was already disabled to also find herself in a way. That movie gave me chills back then to even now. I will have a post about her and the others possibly this week just cause :)
Belle was smart, beautiful, loved to read, and had a heart of gold. She was the talk of the town, even though it fazed her it still didn't stop the spark she had inside. She was still going to be that girl if you liked it or not. That fearless act of being yourself in a world that didn't even allow women to read and promoting that reading isn't something that should be looked down upon as a woman/girl, is inspiring. She and Matilda sparked my love for reading.
Now let me talk about Elle. Elle, Elle, Elle. she is beyond words. a feminine woman, who wears pink, gets her hair and nails done and dresses up, is actually smart?!? Crazy right? but that is how society is. Women can't be pretty and smart. Women have to look unpresentable, unappealing but hey at least she's smart. I admired her strength, her heart when dealing with people who tried to put her down. Her parent's, her ex, her guidance counselor, people at Harvard, etc. The only people who seemed to have her back most of the times was her sorority sisters and her bf at the end of the movie.
I wanted to be Elle. I,in some ways feel that I am her. I can relate to having naysayers who think that just because I dress up, wear makeup, that I am not smart. Well, I got into NJHS, NHS, NTHS. Those are organizations at only a certain top percent of the school can get into, and I got into them. While looking the way that I do. I remember one time in HS, that one of the deans said a snarky remark to me. It was my junior year, and I went to the media center to take the PERT test which can be used to pass you to the next class if you failed a course as a last resort or in my case to get into Valencia's Dual Enrollment Program. That allowed you to start college early by taking courses at a community college. As I was waiting to sit at the computer he looked at me and said, "Oh you're taking the PERT?" as he was laughing "wow." And I said " Yeah. its for Valencia." He was so shocked. And I just walked away. He assumed because of how I looked, that I was failing my courses but when he realized what he said was wrong, he shut up.
That gracefulness Elle had, I had at that moment and to any naysayer that comes across my life. How do you twirl on haters? How do you handle even being bullied or persecuted by being yourself? Elle even dealt with the jealous girls, she even dealt with jealous guys (yes, that is possible) and she did it with a smile and humility that everyone apologized to her for even being that way because of their insecurities.
With these inspirational fictional women characters, how can you not feel the girl power ?
I definitely feel it.
Who inspired you as a girl?
How can you inspire another woman/girl?
Xoxo Ashley
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