Empowering Women
By Andrea Baumann
“When women do better, countries do better, communities do better, and families do better” — USAID
Empowerment: “The process of gaining freedom and power to do what you want or to control what happens to you” — Cambridge Dictionary
Women can move beyond the domestic sphere through empowerment:
Once upon a time, women fought through legal means for “civil rights” to obtain equality. This equality was to extend to every person within the democratic nation. But, now women can push beyond just legal means for empowerment, they can take back their stories and move away from powerlessness.
Gaining equal rights and gaining admittance into once “male-only” arenas, is not the equivalent of empowerment. A career woman who also juggles daycare, essentially pulling double-duty, is not empowerment. It is just double the duties and double the responsibilities, meanwhile their male counterpart position hasn’t changed. Because this is typically a personal battle for women, it is not supported by society or their individual partners. This makes the transition from burden to empowerment difficult.
“Liberal feminism advocates political equality and individual liberty” (Roland-Serdar). If one is secure with themselves, only then can they make the choice to become empowered through utilization of their rights. The new concept for women empowerment is to take ownership of self development. Women need to construct and define their own sense of gender identity, their own political identity, and their own choices. Powerlessness comes from becoming subordinate in public and private to their partners and men in general.
Powerlessness
The devaluation of women through cultural norms is perpetuated within family, foundational messages, and society. One might think that within a family there would be a safe and harmonious place; however, this is where the subordination of women is typically the harshest. Women were expected to support their male partner’s views in politics, religion, and domestic policies and were viewed as subordinate inhabitants and any contributions by women was disregarded.
Culturally, it is communicated that women have a “proper” place. Even though women are achieving more equality and equal rights, they are still powerless due to this component. The deeper this message, the harder it is for women to envision empowerment. The belief of a “proper” place is so embedded in society, women struggle between rights and responsibilities as they relate to relationships and men. Now that the United States of America has Kamala Harris, female vice president-elect, sitting in a very powerful and visible position in the government, I am hopeful that the message that women are strong and capable will help to eliminate this “proper” place mentality.
Another issue causing the feeling of powerlessness among women is that when a woman decides to stay at home she begins to feel that she has no rights or control of her life. Her livelihood is dependent on her male partner, who leads their public life. The difficult task of being the domestic partner is not valued in society, and thus, causes conflict for women.
Resolving the Conflict
A female child learns that her sexuality becomes part of her identity and her sexual needs are at the service of powerful men. Girls are taught to be nice and that their clothing and appearance is of paramount importance. These cultural norms lead female children to obsess over body image which can lead to eating disorders. The female child is thus denied the ability to forge her own path and transform her life according to her own vision.
- Talk to your children and have a conversation about what is wrong with advertisements that use sex and sex appeal to sell their product
- Tell your daughter how smart she is, rather than how pretty her dress is
- Show your daughter that women are strong leaders, scientists, business owners, athletes, politicians…. The list is boundless.
- Reinforce the fact that women define themselves, they do not need a man to define who they are
The female child is conditioned to be dependent on men as a survival mechanism which feeds into her self-worth. But, we can stop this. This conditioning is passed down from generation to generation, but it doesn’t have to be. Raise your daughter to be independent and strong.
Overcoming the helplessness and the conditioning that women are dependent on men for self-worth is the first step toward reclaiming the self. This is how women can resolve the conflict toward empowerment.
Reclaiming Self
Think of life as a story book and every day the story of self is unfolding. Embrace the story of your life, from the beginning until today. The past is the past and has become a part of you. But, choose how your story will unfold from here on out. Make choices and criticize practices that lead to powerlessness. Choose to alter your course and take charge of your story. Actively have those conversations with family, friends, and partners regarding helplessly dependent and raising their awareness of how words and actions have an impact on women and female children.
Empower young girls by telling them how smart they are and that they make great decisions, rather than how cute they are. Empower young girls by telling them how strong they are in the face of being bullied, or how strong they are for helping a friend, rather than how pretty their dress is. Empower young girls by telling them how fearless they are, instead of how the “prince” will come to their rescue.
One Conversation in Reclaiming Myself:
About a year ago, I had a boyfriend ask me to model a new outfit I’d purchased. When I declined. Frustrated he shot back with, “Then, how am I supposed to tell you how great you look?”
Puzzled, I replied, “I don’t need you to tell me how great I look.”
“Then why am I here if you don’t need me?” He seemed genuinely confused.
I said, “You are here because I love you, not because I need you.”
Author’s shoutout: I would like to take this opportunity to thank authors Rowland-Serdar and Schwartz-Shea of “Empowering Women: Self, Autonomy, and Responsibility” as I learned so much about reclaiming myself. Much of what I learned and wrote about here today is based on extensive research and formulated in their paper. They are referenced below.
Resources:
Cambridge Dictionary. Cambridge University @Cambridge University Press 2020. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/ – Accessed 11 Nov. 2020.
Rowland-Serdar, Barbara, and Peregrine Schwartz-Shea. “Empowering Women: Self, Autonomy, and Responsibility.” The Western Political Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 3, 1991, pp. 605–624. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/448671. Accessed 11 Nov. 2020.
USAID. Updated 17 September 2020. https://www.usaid.gov/empowering-women-and-girls- Accessed 11 Nov. 2020.
https://www.pexels.com/photo/mother-kissing-her-child-on-the-beach-5712232/ Olya Kobruseva
https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-white-top-writing-5311617/ Karolina Grabowska
https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-white-and-pink-sticky-notes-3831846/ Cottonbro
https://www.pexels.com/photo/scientist-working-in-laboratory-3938023/ Chokniti Khongchum
I like that you clearly explain how empowerment differs from equality. When reading an argumentative piece, I expect to find the writer’s argument statement near the end of their introduction, but I like that you placed your statement as a bold header instead. I think your blog is well written and organized; you define empowerment, the struggles against it, and solutions to regain it, and you give your readers access to additional resources/ credible articles. I enjoyed your blog.
i absoutely love this blog post. This topic had to be talked about. Yes we women fought for equality and some way we have won but in others we are still fighting. We still dont make the same amount of money a men does even though we have the same job. society has this picture of what a women should look like and if we dont look or act like that picture we are judged harshly.
The stereotypes that society uses to dictate how a woman should act are the worst. I enjoy being called bitchy and bossy when I am trying to lead a crew, but if I am quiet I am too meek. My male co-workers would be called charismic or great leaders, but have man tantrums when things go wrong. When something goes wrong I have to take a deep breath and stay calm because if I showed emotion or that I was worried then I would be considered hysterical.
I love your opening quote! Yes, when women have the freedom and afforded the same rights as men, the country and society will improve dramatically. I hear that type of sentiment from people on different sides. It is more than just representing women and giving them the same opportunities, it also equally as important to understand the specific and unique needs of women that men never will have a perspective on such as carrying and delivering a child to breastfeeding and monthly periods. It is important that the workplace have policies and a country have laws to protect these women from discrimination to just make their work-life balance horrendous over things women naturally have to deal with.