We Speak!

We're Here But They Don't Seem to See US {Image from the 2020 Leading Women's Society Awards}

     Women are valued in society by of our bodies because patriarchy and misogyny has spiraled down into the female body where our bodies seem to become open for commentary, judgment and ultimately public display for people to ask us things not for our  brains but for the way we look and the way they think we look. The entire slew of psychological effects  this creates is endless, insecurities, eating disorders, dangers of the internet, abortion even, because for the women out there who carry their babies, there are still men voting on whether we have the right to abort or not, well who gave them the right to have a say on our bodies? Who gave them the right to be our mirrors? Who gave them the right to say something they would kill someone for saying to their daughters? We need to find a way to take control of our bodies in ways where no explanation is necessary. Because as Gloria Anzaldua poetically stated, "But women have survived" (Pg.373, Poetry is Not a Luxury). We have survived so we will survive and by surviving we will bring the change we've been neglected for too many years for ourselves and for our sisters, mothers and children, because as strong young women today we don't hide anymore, we don't shy away because someone said something hurtful, we fight back. 

     My body is my body, religious and family values/morals aside, "Our poems formulate the implications of ourselves, what we feel within and dare make real, our fear, our hopes, our most cherished terrors," continues Anzaldua (Pg. 373 Poetry is Not a Luxury). We can recreate our bodies as poetry with our mouths and hands to write the words necessary to bring the change we so desperately desire. 

Young Women Face Gender-Specific Challenges that Limit their Political Participation 

     "...even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood. That the speaking profits me, beyond any other effect" (Pg. 40 The Transformation of Science into Language: Sister Outsider and Action). If we can't be the political advocates then we have to show it, speak it and raise awareness through our voices even if people misunderstand, even if we misunderstand ourselves, the point is we are talking and getting what we feel, what we must say to make a difference before it's too late for ourselves and for our children. We carry a child for 9 months in our stomachs, we go through child labor, every month genetically we are reminded we are women and all of this creates the sources we have had since the beginning of time to fight our fight "Within the war we are all waging with the forces of death, subtle and otherwise, conscious or not - I am not only a casualty, I am also a warrior" (Pg.41 The Transformation of Science into Language: Sister Outsider and Action). We matter, along with our brains and voices to make our stories widespread. 
     The Media is our tool to unite us all in this fight together. "This book, I said, would bring our academic dialogue back to where it began - when we were teen girls on the journey toward finding our place in society" (Pg.xxv Yelloh Girls) says Vickie Nam. Of course the media it has its faults, people can write/post/share anything they want, but we can also. That is where media becomes our friend. As more and more awareness sparks, the more television spots, webisodes, podcasts, our own ad campaigns, and vines can showcase our voices and how we will not be silenced anymore. We need this multiplicity of stories in order to execute ourselves as all women fighting one cause. We have opportunities to take our frustration and utilize its strength instead of blaming one another  for the wrongs of other people. DoNow. 

Women Should.