Power of Women

When I was younger my parents always told me that I should marry a handsome doctor.

But, they always told my brother that he should BE a handsome doctor.

To me, that never made sense.

Why was my goal supposed to be marriage and his, success?

Why did I have to rely on another’s success while he got to build his own?

And that differentiation continued as we grew.

He got to use his mind to create great lego building and airplanes and I got to use my hairstyle skills on my Barbies.

In Boy Scouts, he worked on survival skill badges and I worked on my sewing and weaving badges in Girl Scouts.

I was always complimented on my beauty while he was complimented on his achievement.

And I always wondered why there was such a big gap between the expectations people had for us.   

Maybe it’s because girls aren’t strong, or smart.

But then, if women are weak, how are we expected to carry another human in us for nine months and then go through an incredible amount of pain to get that human out?

And if women are dumb then how do you explain women like Eleanor Roosevelt or Harriet Tubman or Malala Yousafzai or the millions of women that have shaped this world into what it is today.

I never really found a good reason for the differentiation besides the fact that he’s a boy and I am not.

And you know, that’s really unfair. Because I was born with more than a pretty face. I was born with a brain as big as his and the ability to use it.

So many little girls are being told that the power of women resides in their looks, not their brains.

And THAT is what we have to change.

The power of women is so much more, we are so much more.

Everything is Awesome Scholarship Slam