Being a woman in today's world is complex, multifaceted, and difficult. These artifacts are an effort to convey the experiences of 21st century women.
(huffpost.com)
Growing up as a girl usually includes the experience of having your interests and talents dictated to you, and having some be "off-limits". Unnecessarily gendering things and activities teaches a gender binary to children of very young ages. It also leads to harmful social expectations about gender expression.
"The photos [of their mothers that] women sent me offer a key to how we, as daughters, want to perceive young womanhood. Pluck, sex appeal, power, kindness, persistence: We admire and celebrate these characteristics, and we long for the past versions of our moms to embody them. But if these characteristics are a prerequisite for a properly executed womanhood, does becoming a mother divest a woman of such qualities? In studying these photos, and each daughter's interpretation of them, I've come to wonder what traits we allow our mothers to have, and which ones we view as temporary, expiring with age and the beginning of motherhood. Can a woman be both sexual and maternal, daring and responsible, innocent and wise? Mothers are either held up as paragons of selflessness, or they're discounted and parodied. We often don't see them in all their complexity.
For daughters, these old photos of our mothers feel like both a chasm and a bridge. The woman in the picture is someone other than the woman we know. She is also exactly the person in the photo- still, right now. Finally, we see that the woman we've come to think of as Mom- whether she's nurturing, or disapproving, or thoughtful, or delusional, or pestering, or supportive, or sentimental- is also a mysterious, fun, brave babe.
She's been here all this time."
Women experience community and connection with other women. The people we develop into are shaped by the role models around us. This article discusses how motherhood becomes a lens we view women through and how it shapes our perception of them, even when they are our own mothers.
(Rob Bliss Creative via Youtube)
For women today, feeling unsafe in many public spaces is a daily reality. This video documents one woman’s experience with catcalling for just one day. There are many videos like this featuring women of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, ages, and in various states of being “dressed up”. These videos show that harassment is not about things the victim does to "deserve" unwanted attention, but about harassers believing that women owe them -a smile, a conversation- just by existing in the same space.
(Amy Krouse Rosenthal for the New York Times)
Being a woman in the 21st century means the ability to marry for love and be legally equal with your spouse, in many parts of the world, while in other places young girls and women are still forced into arranged marriages they do not want. This essay reflects on one woman's relationship with her partner as she nears the end of her life.
Being a woman in the 21st century means the ability to marry for love and be legally equal with your spouse, in many parts of the world, while in other places young girls and women are still forced into arranged marriages they do not want. This essay reflects on one woman's relationship with her partner as she nears the end of her life.
(oddee.com)
Abuse and rape victims lead the conversation about the trend in our society to hold women responsible for the actions of men, even when those actions hurt the women in question.
(Pinterest)
"I can only talk about my own experiences, my personal struggles and joys as a young black woman living in Chicago. I can only talk about how some people look so reserved and fearful when they see me walk down the streets of Lincoln Park, when I enter restaurants and shops in Wicker Park, when I visit my white boyfriend in Logan Square. I see the look of relief flood their faces when they realize I'm one of the good ones because I "talk white." I am not like other black people in their eyes, they do not see my skin, they see themselves. I am the model minority and that hurts me more than it appeases them.
I am unapologetically black."
Women of color experience oppression differently than white women do. Being a woman often comes with additional oppression due to racism, ableism, homophobia, and other prejudices.
(Buzzfeed)
Western culture fetishizes, romanticizes, and objectifies women's bodies, but does not educate about female health and anatomy.
(Scary Mommy)
This article discusses dress codes and how they are often sexist or use sexist language that implies female bodies are inherently "distracting" or shameful. The article also demonstrates ways that we can talk about women's clothing without shaming or discriminating against girls and women.
(Mirror)
Women don't always look or act like societal stereotypes. LGBTQ+ women experience oppression and marginalization differently than other populations of women, including violence and fear as beliefs about sexuality and gender are called into question.
(Lily Myers via Youtube)
This poem addresses the idea that the value we place on women being small physically, is related to society's pressures for women to talk and assert themselves and live openly, less.
(Pinterest)
Women today have more unrealistic beauty ideals pushed on them, at younger ages, than any generation before. However we are also redefining and broadening the definitions of physical beauty, as well as rejecting the narrative that a person's value and worth are determined by their physical characteristics.
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