WOMAN : HEAR HER ROAR

EVERY WOMAN, EITHER KNOWS SOMEONE OR IS SOMEONE AFFECTED BY A FORM OF VIOLENCE; MOSTLY AT THE HAND OF A MAN. THIS IS NON DEBATABLE. THE TIME FOR DISCUSSION IS OVER. THE TIME FOR A REVOLUTION IS HERE. BE THE VOICE OF CHANGE, "ENOUGH IS E-FUCKING-NOUGH!"

I am a woman;

daughter, sister, mother, friend, wife, and so many other people in between.

There is something to be said about being a woman today. It comes with extreme power, responsibility and onus. Now more than ever before, women hold the microphone and it is turned ON! I have chosen to speak up today, not because I have something to say but because I have too much to say and not enough space to say it in... so let me get to the point. 

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Growing up as a woman is hard. I was a tomboy from the start, slow to understand the different rules that applied to me simply for being a girl. Now, being a mother to a young girl it is clearer than ever before how learned this all is - she has no idea what being a girl and boy is; she just is. When I had my son, I was absolutely shocked (to say the least) at how many times I heard the comment, "Oh Good, now your husband has a surfing buddy!" 

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I won't waste time with why that public opinion became a huge issue for me as a woman, mother and just all round human, instead I will focus my energy to make sure this kind of thinking is completely eradicated by the time my daughter's generation have children - It's a big goal and there isn't a lot of time hence the urgency in all this.

 

Bowie Rae is focused on far more than just making beautiful gowns, it is about celebrating Woman; the diversity of Her. I have a real issue with categorising women as one lump sum. Being a Feminist isn't about agreeing on Women's Issues and what rights we demand for ourselves, it's not even about agreeing on what is unfair or unjust, it simply is about having Choice; the choice for a woman to be exclusively herself - given every opportunity to feel safe, free and most importantly, able to navigate her own life according to her own individual values. The biggest issue with being lumped as one voice is that we risk losing the strength of numbers. 

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That is why there is no need to be scared of the F word...

We can no longer look at things on an insular level, it is far too dangerous to do this right now when we are on the cusp of such a revolution. We must zoom out and look at what being a woman on an international level means today. If you are being stoned to death for being raped, if you are being arranged to marry someone else, someone twice or even three times your age, if you are being killed by your brother, husband, father or other in the name of Honour. We don't have too look too far away from our own doorstep to see so many women being abused my their "partners", physically, verbally and sexually - our universities, our homes, our streets.

 

Our eyes and ears needs to be open now - nothing can be dismissed. If not for our sake and the sake of our daughters, mothers, sisters, friends... then for the sake of humanity - an entire civilisation who depends on Women to be educated, safe and free.

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The side lines are no place for women today.

There is a movement

A revolution

and it is Big!

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