E is for Empowerment

It's week five of Alphabe-Thursday! :-)

E is for Empowerment...

To me empowerment is all about knowing your own strength. I think this is an important issue for many women in particular. Men are generally considered powerful and strong just because of their gender. Women may be less strong physically, but I know women have deep inner reserves of strength that have almost nothing to do with physical ability.

I consider myself a feminist. I believe women should have the same opportunities as men. I'm grateful for all the women who came before me, who stood up against injustice and fought for equality. I'm thankful that because of their bravery I now have a million choices in life. Choices that were once upon a time not even a possibility for a woman.

But what I'm not so much in favour of is the way feminism has encouraged women to forget their inner goddess. In our attempts to find an equal footing with men, I feel we sometimes try to be too much like a man. The sexes are different for a reason. Women are, in general, more nurturing and intuitive. I think these traits are gifts that women need to embrace. It doesn't mean we chain ourselves to the kitchen or that having babies and being wives is our only ambition in life. We've moved beyond that. We can choose that lifestyle if we so desire, but it does not define us. What I think should define women is our ability to empower. 

Men empower themselves through competition and achievement. Women do this too of course, but something that women do much better than men is to empower through love. That's where our nurturing instincts really come into play. Whether we're supporting loved ones through a difficult time, or raising children, or caring for our aging parents, or climbing the corporate ladder, we're doing it all from a place of innate gentleness and love. I'm not saying men can't be gentle or loving because they can and they are, but you know where they learnt those traits? From their mothers! :-)

I believe the power of women comes from our connection to our hearts. When we choose to empower ourselves as the loving, nurturing, intuitive, attentive, passionate, soul sisters that we are, we embrace the strength of the goddess within. And once we're conscious of just how amazing and wonderfully capable we are then we're in a much better position to create a life that fulfils us, that inspires others and that empowers every human being.