Empowering Girls & Women

"A WOMAN WITH A VISION EMPOWERS AN EMPIRE OF WOMEN TO DO MORE, SEE MORE AND BE MORE."

Whilst looking through pinterest recently I came across this quote and it really stood out to me. 

I am a young woman but when it comes to supporting and encouraging other women and mums I like to think I have it covered. I'm far from perfect and I have made (and continue) to make many mistakes, as a woman, a parent and as a wife. However, I have a passion to help other women, particularly mums, to try and inspire them and help them feel good about themselves. 

Women are mistreated all over the world, they're being abused, raped, murdered, told what they are and aren't allowed to do and still being made to feel like they're not good enough. Many are still being paid less than men and not receiving the same opportunities. Emily Davison was one of the many suffragettes who fought tirelessly for votes for women in the United Kingdom, she was arrested 9 times, went on hunger strike 7 times, was force fed 49 times and died after stepping in front of the Kings horse at the Epsom Derby in 1913. This post isn't about the suffragette movement I hear you saying, no it's not, but it is about women.  Emily Davison is a relative of ours on my mums side and as a family we are all passionate about women, women's rights and empowering women to be the best they can be, women fought so hard for us to live in the way we do today, and still many women continue to turn against each other. 

Across the world, every 90 seconds a woman dies from pregnancy or childbirth, the youngest girl in the world to get divorced was just 10 years old and girls are less likely to reach adulthood because of gender discrimination.  There is a serious lack of love and support for women across the globe and this is something that really has to change.  Where do we start? Women empowering other women is where it starts.  Women empowering women can change the world. 

When I see/hear of women and mums being kind, supporting and encouraging each other, supportive blog posts, tweets and instagram comments I feel we are part of an amazing community, who do want to see others succeeding and feeling good about themselves. Unfortunately you don't have to look too far, especially amongst social media to see there isn't enough of this behaviour. Some women are using it to bully others, along with those trashy online magazine articles who slate other women and their bodies.  Some of the worst, sexist people out there aren't men, they're women.  Some women will (and have) stand by a rapist over providing support to a women who has been raped.  

If you look hard enough you'll see a plethora of hatred towards women, from women. Many will mistreat and intentionally hurt other women because that's all they know how to do. Why are we seeing each other as competition and not role models? Too many young girls are growing up being horrible to each other because they don't have a positive female role model. There's too much jealousy, hatred and criticism and not enough support and encouragement. 

I'm sure I am not the only one who wants to see other women succeed as individuals and mums, for them to thrive.  This is only going to happen if we, as women and mums empower eachother and that starts with our friends, family and daughters.  Recognising that our strength lies in us being united and not tearing each other apart. Praise your mum friends when they succeed, support and encourage them when they're feeling like they can't, and be the best role model you can. Lead by example.