So I'm Empowered…Now What?

This has been a topic that's been on my mind a lot lately.  I feel like every event I go to is trying to tell me that people think less of me because I am a woman but I should ignore them and make the world what I want it to be.

But in my life, I'm not saying anyone else's, I don't think that my gender is cause for needing to be empowered.  I don't remember a time when I haven't felt empowered, and I guess from all the conversations surrounding it, I'm the exception, not the rule.

I LOVED Barbies growing up and not once did I think about the "impossible beauty standards" that they depicted.  To me, Barbie was a doll who could do anything!  I had Barbies that were Olympians, doctors, business owners, pilots, and more.  My Barbies were a source of inspiration and I think the rep they've received within the past few years is ignoring all the positive impact they have had on young children like me.

I grew up with an older brother and was a bit of a tomboy, I played sports (all of them), and not to say that I didn't experience sexist behavior in those sports, but I don't remember a time when it disempowered me.  I remember playing baseball in Little League as a fourth grader and always being at the back of the batting order, I guess because I was a girl because my dad blew up at the coach about it at a game once.  I was not a great player, but that came from being so nervous that I was the only girl on the team and had no friends or support from the coach and I felt like I had a lot of pressure on me to do well for the sake of all girls.  So basically I shook every time I went up to bat and always hit fly balls straight to the pitcher.  But I was already a girl playing a predominately male sport, so I'd say I was empowered.

Growing up with a mom who was a firefighter, granted before I was born, but still super awesome, I never felt like certain professions were off limits or that I couldn't be everything I wanted to be.  I was creative and crafty, smart and curious, competitive and athletic.  My friends at school were always guys and I would play soccer or kickball or basketball or football with them, usually as the only girl.  If I wanted to do something, I was not going to let anyone tell me no.

Luckily, my education mostly supported me in that way.  I went to a private school for most of my life that had amazing teachers who allowed me to be a leader and pursue most anything I wanted to.  I would say that there was a certain gym teacher who was sexist who I was annoyed by from time to time, but I didn't let his comments define me.

Throughout high school I was able to represent my school at multiple leadership conferences and I was always leading things around campus.

A lot of girls talk about an interaction that made them find their voice and I don't think I had one.  Sometimes I think about if when I broke my leg and nearly died as a sixteen year old was a turning point in my life, but then I think about everything I did before it.  I think almost dying just teaches you that life is fragile and the most you can lose is your life, so you might as well just do whatever you want and see where it takes you.

So when I go to events where women are telling other women to find their voice and to be empowered, it's not that I think that's a bad thing,  I just have a hard time relating to it and I think it's getting a bit old.  I wish all women felt as fearless and brave as I have my whole life (we all have moments of doubts and weakness too, that's human nature), because it has led me to some really incredibly opportunities.

If you relate at all, please do let me know!  Go out and seize the day today and every day!