Life in Lashes: March 2016

#internationalwomensday

What does International Women's Day mean to you? Standing up for women's rights? Focusing on equality between men and women in the work place and in society? Women embracing their bodies and their sexuality? All of the above?

As hard as it might be to believe, inequality doesn't just stop at race or the color of someone's skin. Women's inequality is still a huge issue in today's society. And as hard as it is to admit, it's not just men that help create and sustain this inequality. Women can be some of our biggest enforcers when it comes to keeping limitations on what it means to be an "independent" and "free" woman in today's society. This is extremely alarming to me. We, as women, already have more obstacles to face than men when trying to live a life free of judgment and shaming to be putting those limitations on ourselves and each other. We should be supporting one another to succeed and be comfortable in our own skin. Supporting one another to be confident in the skin we were born in and comfortable with making our own choices about what we want our life and legacy to be.

"Live and let live."

This term is hard for a lot of people to understand and implement in their lives. Everyone wants to be accepted for the person that they are and supported in the choices they make as they are trying to become the person they want to be. No one wants to be made to feel like they are inadequate or that they cannot truly be themselves in the fear that people will judge them. We are all human beings and we need to respect other's choices and let them live. LET LIVE.

No one is perfect and no one will ever live up to other people's standards of the perfect person. As women, we have an even greater pressure to be perfect. The perfect hair. The perfect makeup. The perfect face without any makeup. The perfect body. The perfect outfits. To be honest, women tend to make up these "perfect" scenarios of how they should look and act then project them on to other women. As a result, women begin to feel inadequate and feel shameful because they will never live up to these standards that are put on them.

We were all born different. Different shapes. Different sizes. Different colors. Different personalities. Different views. Different goals. And that's perfectly okay! In fact, I think that's pretty damn amazing! I get inspired by women how are different than I am. I look at how they live their lives and the decisions they have made and it inspires me to live my own life as authentically as possible. I might admire the way another woman looks or the confidence she has or how business savvy a woman is, but the best part about that is that those aspects and traits that I admire in so many women are helping me to become the great woman that I hope to be as I navigate through my life.

So, instead of judging another woman because the doesn't have the same values as you, or she is comfortable with her body, or she has opinions and she's willing to voice them, or she isn't what you consider to be the "perfect woman" consider the following:

Would you want your daughter, sister, mother, aunt, cousin, grandmother, friend, niece, or wife to be judged or made to feel badly about who she is? I would be willing to take a risk and say that just about everyone would never wish those feelings upon their loved ones.

So, instead of taking the time to tear someone else down, why not take that energy and use it for something good. Lift someone up today! Give them a compliment. Tell them what you like about them. Focus on the positive. Use your voice to uplift others rather than spreading hate in an already cold and judgemental society.

Bullying others in person or on social media should never be accepted or tolerated, so let's spread the love instead. Women to men. Men to men. Men to women. And women to women!

Happy International Women's Day! Embrace yourself!

Women who inspire me (in no particular order):

Marilyn Monroe: Movie Star