Women's History Month

Women’s History Month.

Having the identity of “woman” is such a complex one, and being a woman today means so many different things. It’s no longer about just being gentle, kind, and soft. Being a woman can involve being strong, loud, and bold. Being a woman can involve the roles of leader, teacher, mother, lover, or friend. 

I think for so long women were being molded to fit into neat little boxes of “pretty,” “nurturing,” or “affectionate.” Women were expected to act in a certain manner, believe certain things, even dress in a certain way. Women were simplified. 

Now, the complexity that makes us women is celebrated. We are too big for the boxes now. The things that make us who we are, that make us women, seep over the edges of the boxes. The box bursts at the seam, unable to contain all that we are. Even when others try to stuff us back into those boxes, we have become too much, take up too much space, to simply be packed away again. 

For some of us, the boxes have been broken. We have burst through the boxes, the labels, and the expectations that were created for us. We are free to be complex and simple, loud and quiet, soft and bold. Whatever we want. 

Unfortunately, not everyone has been able to break free of their box. As we reflect on Women’s National History Month, let’s celebrate the barriers that have been broken, but remember that not everyone is as free as we are. For those who have been able to break free – let’s use this newfound freedom to amplify the voices of those who are muted. Let’s be loud for those who are still silent, packaged away neatly into their box. 

We should not stop, cannot stop, until everyone is able to express freely what it means to be a woman. Every woman deserves to break free from the barriers that were created for them.