As we prepare to launch this vision-casting initiative for Guiding Star Centers, I’m reminded of the suffragists and the incredible odds that stood against them as they began their crusade for recognition of women’s dignity. Their goal took roughly 50 years to achieve, but I am hopeful that with the advent of the internet and mass media, we can do this much more quickly!
It’s said that history repeats itself; well it seems we’re coming around once again to a time when we need to step back and look at how our culture is treating women. Just as the suffragists cried out against a society that said women were not fit to vote, we too must cry out against a society that has confused its messages to us about our roles, worth, and dignity. The conflicting messages we hear must stop; and a clear, hopeful, uplifting vision of woman must come forth.
Do we acknowledge that women are created perfectly fine just the way they are? Or do we make women feel inadequate or broken by providing “solutions” to things such as our monthly cycles? Do we nurture the natural instincts and abilities of young mothers, or do we insist that their babies need formula, additional childcare, and extensive educational curriculums at age one?
Are we as women good enough the way we were naturally created, or have we subconsciously bought into a message about insufficeincy and dependency upon a social system that doesn’t see how capable and strong we can be?
I say that just as the American suffragists united to insist upon their true rights, now is the time for us to again unite. Men and women, now is the time to create a new model of women’s health, for the sake of our dignity and rights.