In celebration of International Women’s Day, I’d like to share some reflections on what it means, for me, to be a woman in 2021, and to give a nod of gratitude to those women (and Others) I consider to be my personal protagonistas. The list is extensive and includes family, friends, colleagues, clients, men, and even strangers.
I’ve recently had the opportunity to go back in time through an exploration of history from 1650 to the present in pursuit of completing a degree. It was clear during that period of time there were absolute prohibitions to a woman’s “rightful” place in the world. My reference for “rights” was drawn from the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, conceived during the French Revolution. Words fleshing out the vastness of “rights” include “liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression”. At the time, this was directed mostly to “men and citizens” and inconsistently to Others (women, people of color and indigenous people). While it has been a journey from oppression to liberation by varying degrees, it was most often after a period of revolution, sparking a period of enlightened thinking, that came the opportunity to broaden the meaning and application of rights to Others. Some of these Others were indistinct and humble archetypes of sovereignty and strength while others were revealed prominently, both unmasking inequity and to saying YES, we too can make a statement about resistance to oppression.
My grandparents, born in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s were subject to a hierarchy of rights prejudiced by their poverty. My grandmother told me once how she planned an escape from her alcoholic husband. She scrimped from their meager budget and hid the money behind a picture until there was finally enough for two bus tickets, one for her and one for her youngest daughter. Having no place else to go, she went back to her childhood home in Virginia. Eventually her husband found her and brought her back to New Jersey with the sanction of my great-grandfather.
There is no hierarchy in bravery, courage, standing up for what you believe in, or acting on behalf of a greater good. At the end of the day when violence or oppression threatens and you persevere (as in the Suffragette Movement, Malala Yousef, or my grandmother), you have acted on behalf of the collective in speaking in favor of humanity and against oppression.
I sometimes think about my life and how what I’ve been able to accomplish and achieve is because of the women who came before me, indistinct or prominent, who laid the groundwork for me, to lay the groundwork for those who come after me. The destiny of humanity is in our collective hands.
evesicurellaabmp 