Femininity. Even the word itself holds power. Throughout history, women have shown their courage, power, and grace through their achievements, even women in my own life express the power behind the word with their sheer womanhood. They have shown us, especially me, that being a woman comes from more than that of our biology. Being a woman is more than owning a pair of breasts, having a uterus and period, owning a vagina, having children; being a woman is the combination of our own drive for excellence with a consciousness for change. Women are great.
As march is women’s history month, it is important to reflect on the women in history, as well as in our own lives, celebrating their existence and blossoming inner beauty.
Growing up, I had an excellent woman to raise me. My mum taught me how to be kind, clever and empathetic, she always pushed me to follow my own dreams, to carve my own path in life, one without limits as she reinforced the idea that I could do anything. My mum is a female powerhouse who works hard for what she wants and who is selfless in every action she takes, she raised me with such influence that I aspire to be half the woman she is. I also have the most amazing female friends who have moulded me to the person I am today. They teach me more about myself every day and help paint the canvas of my own femininity. Similar to my mum, they inspire me in a way that makes me curious as to how I have such outstanding women in my life.
I’ve always looked up to the strong, independent women, not only my own life, but in history too.
I think one of the most important and memorable women in history is Emmiline Pankhurst, the Capeles hero who played a vital role in the women’s suffrage movement in the beginning of the 1900s. She saw the inequality in the voting system and pushed for change, using her voice that was often muted to press for action. She inspired a movement of united women suffrage; women came together to prove to those who doubted their femininity and that women are a force to be reckoned with. Her radical politics secured women the right to vote and provided evidence that women needed to be taken seriously. She proved that women aren’t the feeble, emotional individuals that the world always seems to perceive us to be.
Trans pioneers in history also need to be remembered this month. They show how women cannot just be defined by their biology but rather their divine femininity from within. Roberta Cowell was Britain’s first trans woman who had, then illegal, gender reassignment surgery in which she had her testicles removed. Womanhood isn’t just defined by our biology and her actions caused a somewhat rift in what was once considered to be ‘female’. She redefined femininity and that redefinition has continued into the 21st century. If it weren’t for trans women pioneers the identity of womanhood would still have harmful associations with that of the purely reproductive role, one that places a limit of what women would be and could do.
It’s not just white women that need to be remembered either. Often when considering feminism in association to identity women who have oppressions in other areas such as race and class are left out of the history. Sojourner Truth was one of the most inspirational women in black history. One of the first activists for women’s rights, Truth was sold into slavery at just age 9. After she escaped the turmoil and the oppression of slavery into freedom she began to advocate for women’s rights, and more importantly, black women’s rights. Often left out of history, truth was a spearhead for intersectional feminism, using her voice as a force for change for all women. She used her repressed voice to deliver speeches, the most famous being “ain’t I a woman?” in which she explored her associations with the identity of women and womanhood.
Growing up in a society where we’re told that we aren’t enough, it’s important during women’s history month we reflect on the times where women showed that we are enough. We’re more than the limits placed upon us in a world determined to dim our sparkle and women in my own life as well as history serve as the match determined to reignite the spark that is snubbed. So, again I ask, who runs the world?