always a woman
over the weekend, i thought a lot about what it means to be a confident woman.
and while my pondering was mostly related to the physical, it was also about just what it means to be a woman these days, and what to do with this sex we are born with, how it changes our perception of who we are, will be, and might have been, affects what we feel comfortable saying or doing, where we can walk at night, and what our desires be. among so many other things.
it’s funny how when you think about something long enough, the world starts to change to present things to you on the subject. two things i read this morning:
1. Why Michelle Obama inspires women around the globe
Heather Ferreira works in the slums of Mumbai, India, where she has watched thousands of women live under a “curse.”
The women she meets in the squalid streets where “Slumdog Millionaire” was filmed are often treated with contempt, she says. They’re considered ugly if their skin and hair are too dark. They are deemed “cursed” if they only have daughters. Many would-be mothers even abort their children if they learn they’re female.
Yet lately she says Indian women are getting another message from the emergence of another woman thousands of miles away. This woman has dark skin and hair. She walks next to her husband in public, not behind. And she has two daughters. But no one calls her cursed. They call her Michelle Obama, the first lady.
“She could be a new face for India,” says Ferreira, program officer for an HIV-prevention program run by World Vision, an international humanitarian group. “She shows women that it’s OK to have dark skin and to not have a son. She’s quite real to us.”
Those who focus on Michelle Obama’s impact on America are underestimating her reach. The first lady is inspiring women of color around the globe to look at themselves, and America, in fresh ways.
(and to think i was so concerned about hotpants. perspective!)
2. this illustrated piece in the NYT is one of the most interesting things i’ve seen in quite a long time. srsly – take a few minutes. especially if you happen to be a woman.
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