Throwing My Hat in the Ring
2012
I am a passionate feminist and I have championed women’s rights for the better part of my life. We’ve come a long way since the 70s, but we cannot lose sight of the fact that our hard work, and the ground we gained, could be relinquished if we take it for granted.
This is no more evident than in the issues at the forefront of this year’s presidential race. Obama and Romney both know that women are raising their voices, demanding to be heard. As a result, both candidates are wooing the female vote because they recognize women are a force to be reckoned with at the polls. Still, once the election is over and the new president is declared, the issues being debated will need to be addressed. The question is how and by whom?
Will the politicians put the best interest of women at the top of their agendas? Perhaps they will if they believe we will hold them to task, but the political machine in Washington is broken and can no longer be counted on to do the right thing. That being the case, we cannot point fingers without taking action, and then whine when we lose ground or fail to move forward.
If we are complacent, we have no one to blame but ourselves. If we don’t make our collective voice heard again, we could see the doors shut in our faces, as they were forty years ago. We must take advantage of the momentum created in this election year and continue to raise awareness about women’s issues.
We need to reconnect with the causes that impact women; not just women in the US, but women all over the world. Those causes will be many; and we will each find our way to those we feel most passion about, because passion is the driving force in any movement.
I’m passionate about two issues:
- I am passionate about increasing awareness about how compassion and tolerance can change our world. During the course of my career, I managed a lot of employees. I discovered that women who balance their leadership approach with good business practices and compassion, empower their employees to achieve their full potential.
- I’m passionate about bridging the generation gap with our daughters. Many of them cannot relate to the work we did that spawned their sense of entitlement. They make choices their grandmothers wouldn’t have even considered. This is a good thing. We did our job well if we accomplished that in one generation, but now we must engage the next generation to step up and lead with the same passion that drove their mothers into a feminist revolt.
I am quite certain this blog will evolve and expand relative to topics, but the underlying intent is to bring about an awareness that women must unite and we must embrace our opportunities; we must stir up some healthy debate that inspires each and every one of us to move beyond awareness to take action.
I’ve always been inspired by a healthy debate. What’s most important to me in writing this blog is to present a forum that encourages readers to explore their personal thoughts and feelings about any given topic, and then do some research to form an educated opinion. In the process, I hope to generate some discussion about what’s going on in our world today and how the collective voice of today’s women can impact the world in positive ways.