Open Up, Speak Out

Woman's Rights. Media. False Portrayal. These words, coming together to create an ongoing issue this society has struggled with for so long. Simply because of their gender, disparaged woman in all industries are forced to deal with bias opinions and constant doubts from all ends, however we are all stronger because of the strong women we have leading our exclusively female pack. It has been estimated that the average American spends 10 hours and 45 minutes per day, enticed in front of a TV screen or a computers images, learning from the opinions of the media, a male dominated industry. The information going straight to our heads, all adding up to form a community where women are belittled down to nothing. As mere objects to the world around us, this false representation of the strong females in this world, most of whom our success should be credited towards, is shaping who we are as a community. This distorted image young girls everywhere are led to believe at such a young age, clouds the achievements we believe we will be able to attain, lowering our self esteems just a little bit more. We are led to believe that our dreams of becoming scientists or great doctors, are jobs in which only a man can withstand, because we are simply not strong enough. More often than not we are rendered as the victims, criticized when we achieve something great, perhaps greater than that of a male and I am now choosing to do something about it. When you begin looking at this demoralized situation with a more critical eye, you will begin to notice, what I have just begun to see. We as a community are blind to the way women are treated, and the few of us whom are brave enough to open our mouths to challenge the circumstance at hand, are often looked down upon if in fact we represent the ultimate target, a woman. The unfortunate truth of it all is that it is a revelation when we hear of a woman running for president, or a woman finding the cure to some worldwide disease, solving issues the world has yet been able to merely question. The answer to how women are constantly one step ahead of it all is simple. We are forced to look at things more critically because our opinion is often outspoken, clouded by the image which meets the eye, because we are forced to believe very early on that our value to society depends on it. All the thinking and questioning is forced to take place internally. Why this situation came to be, remains an unknown. However, the reason why a change has yet to me made, leaves most flabbergasted, an even more surprising unknown. Subconsciously, as a community we are promoting this type of behavior looking at this male dominated society with open eyes and a shut mouth. Challenge the situation at hand, protect the woman in your community. Spend a tenth of the time you may spend worried about the image in the mirror, making a difference trying to focus on worldwide issues. Perhaps even the one which is leading to the constant concern regarding external beauty. Never doubt your inner strength, your mental strength, and your physical strength. The mere fact that we as woman have been able to withstand such torment and denigration for so long, should be enough to prove to the world around us, that there has to be more to us deeper down than the outer most layer. When will, the strong woman we are, be enough? Never be afraid to dig deeper. To challenge woman rights. To speak up. To Make a difference.

"The Most Common Way People Give Up Their Power, Is By Thinking They Do Not Have Any..." -Alice Walker

LUV or LOVE

Love. It makes your heartbeat fast, allows smiles to appear on your face, and happiness to grow in your soul. It surrounds us from childhood, to motherhood and every second in between and Valentines day is a happy time for those who have it and seems like a solemn reminder for those who don't. Having a boyfriend often seems like the one important thing to have in your life as a girl of any age. We are often hearing about 1st graders who are in "love" and 16 year olds who are preparing to be a mother, and all too often we convince ourselves that the important things in life are the people who can make it better. On the 14th day of the month of February we have 2 roads, and for me one is taken much more commonly than the other. We as teenage girls can mope around feeling sorry for ourselves that love has not yet come our way. Look at the roses on the doorsteps of all of our friends, the chocolate in the lockers..it practically smells of love in the air.  Or, we can treat it as the holiday it was meant to be. A simple reminder to express to those who have given you SO much how much you love them and how lucky you feel to have them as the loves of your life. Never, put yourself in the situation where you feel as though you need a boyfriend to make you happy: this will never result in anything good nor is it true.. One of the most valid points anyone has ever demonstrated to me are these words, "Never let anyone determine your happiness." Take it to heart and think about what it may mean to you. Whether it may stress to not depend on a boy, or to take your own road instead of follow in a friends footsteps, do what YOU need to do in order to make Valentines day EXACTLY what it is. Tell your best friend that you love them, tell your parents that they mean the world to you, or perhaps look in the mirror and remind yourself of the amazingly strong and gorgeous person you are inside and out. Give yourself a pat on the back for everything you have accomplished and embrace the love that surrounds you each day. Do not define it as something given to a girl by a boy, the words mean nothing. It is the actions that viably back it up. How about the support you get from your friends as the tears drip down your face, or the sacrifices made by your family in order to assure the best life possible for you. That is love. Valentines day is not over yet, there is still time left..dont make it about the love of a soul mate, make it about a love for the people who really do adore you for who you are and will never leave your side, no matter what. Love, it makes your heart beat fast, allows smiles to appear on your face, but does not determine your happiness level inside.

Happy Valentines Day my LUV birds!!!

A Hairy Situation

Hair as well as other external features tend to define how a girl reflects on herself each day. I can relate to those same hair-crazed teenagers on more levels than one. When I was in 6th grade I was put in the fortunate enough situation to go to the "promised land of the Jewish people." My mom saw it fit that I cleaned up my appearance before I took this journey half-way across the world: therefore I took a pre-adventure to the hair salon. The 6th grader within me, prompted my brain to express the fact that I wanted a shoulder length, layered, side bange cut. So what did the hair dresser do? She gave me exactly that, and boy did I think I was hot stuff! While in 7th grade, at a brand new, fashion forward school in a community with all new kids, I came to the realization that my juvenile haircut was no longer wanted. It was from that point on that I decided to boycott getting a cut! It has been since that march of my sixth grade year (currently in the 8th grade) and I have failed to loosen my views, and I have since gotten a hair cut. My hair, almost reaching my tush at this point, is one that I am not only proud of but take pride in! However, after rethinking my outlook on beauty, I have decided and wish to share with all of you, that it is not about having the most pin straight, longest hair on the block. Its about finding a style in which you can say "I am proud that I choose to rock this." Emma Watson, and Michelle Williams, two of the most empowering and gorgeous women in Hollywood both coincidently happen to sport the "guy" cut, and constantly look amazing doing it. Never do anything, simply because you see photographs and magazine portraits of those celebrities in your society doing it. Do it to be proud of yourself, and proud of the entire girl you see reflecting back in your mirror, internally and externally. Never feel like you need to hesitate before you share the feeling of the true amazement you feel regarding the woman you have become. It is OK to go against the grill sometimes, and do the opposite of what is expected of you by the society surrounding us teenagers each day. Never let one feature define your external view on yourself. Be humble yet gratified at what you have the guts to strut, love yourself while doing it, and respect yourself enough to never do anything your heart is not in 100%.. I love you all SO much, continue to be the amazing girls and boys you are constantly proving yourselves to be!

Powerful Women are the Most Intimidating: Own Your Stuff

She is the mastermind behind it all, the woman who I think switched my mirror out for one which only recognizes the imperfections I have learned to own. Lauren Greenfield, has taught me that teenage life is not easy but will become simpler in time if we learn to understand that inner confidence not perfections is what will get everyone else to realize how beautiful you are. She is an American photographer whom has written and made some of the most inspirationally life changing books,documentaries, and museum exhibits which sparked a love for confidence within this teenage girl RIGHT HERE.  The road to understanding the power of inner beauty, owning who you are, and embracing your flaws, is not one which can be understood or explained automatically, it's a time consuming adventure but one which will be rewarding and a present to the girl within you, in the long run. The first step to understanding yourself as a person, and learning about how to deal with this self competition of perfection is the toughest and most difficult: we must first figure out what perceived flaw makes you most self conscious before we can start "owning" who we are. Beacuse, truth be told, how can you embrace yourself, if you aren't sure what it is you are needing to embrace? Identify what makes you the most self conscious, and what you are constantly beating yourself up about. For some this may be as simple as a scar on your forehead, or the pimple that just appeared on your nose. However, for most teenage girls these solvable issues seem like the end of the world, a situation which I myself can identify with most easily. The culture of beauty is unfortunately encouraged and advertised by the community surrounding us, nonetheless we as strong women and men cannot let those involved in the industry get to our heads and destroy how we reflect inwards upon ourselves. The turning point in my journey in understanding what Lauren Greenfield had been trying to get across to the rest of the world for so long was that, the girls we see on Tumblr and in Vogue are not the girls which stand before the camera. Before the magazine or website URL reach our fingertips, the process of photoshop begins. Their pimples are removed, and the cellulite on the back of their thighs is erased, the cuves they possess hidden: so that 13 year olds feel as though this image of a "perfect" being is what we too are supposed to obtain. Understand the process, and realize that there is NO definition of a typical beauty. Each of us attain something that someone else envies, each of are beautiful in our own right. Never doubt who you are based on what the girl sitting next to you appears to look like, because chances are they are battling that same inner war with themselves, that you are: but the sooner you can say you truly believe in yourself, the sooner those around you will too. Look in the mirror and be proud of what you see on the inside, because changing what you look like or what you wear, will never alter that internal being. 

Always remember to flaunt who you are: even if that implies a few imperfections, you will be proud that you did, more proud than you would have been than to say, "hey! i just totally changed who i am so that you will think of me as beautiful!" Today I will end with a quote to help inspire each of you to understand how gorgeous and proud of you I am,"take the journey, regardless of the end result. Take it cause you want to, the worst that will happen is you will learn about a piece of yourself you did not know existed.."