Girl Power

[BrenanMommy]

Is it bad that I don't feel the need to declare girl power?

 

There is this Women's Conference (http://www.californiawomen.org/) :

 

"Under the leadership of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver, The Women's Conference has grown from a small government initiative for working professionals into a far-reaching organization, a life-changing experience, and an international network of women from all walks of life, backgrounds and perspectives.

The Women's Conference event is the largest and most dynamic gathering of women in the nation. Recognized for its unparalleled capacity to empower and inspire women to become architects of change, the annual conference unites more than sixty internationally-acclaimed leaders and visionaries with 14,000 women in one arena, plus thousands more virtually, to share enriching stories of transformation and success, words of encouragement and life lessons."

 

Eh. I really don't see how this is productive. Don't get me wrong, it might be fun to see a couple of the people speak. Then again, there are quite a few that I would want to beat with a stick. Listen up, Jenny McCarthy.

 

I know I am a woman. I know that to some degree, women before me had to fight to be considered equals now days, and I realize to some degree, that we have a ways to go. But honestly, I liken this to the whole idea of black history month and white power, and well, quite frankly, anything that distinguishes itself from the masses based on something that someone has no control over when it comes to what they are. Black, white, male, female. It doesn't take away from prejudice when a group of women get together to talk about how they need to assert themselves. It is simply showing that we are different and that instead of just being capable of working hard, we need a feel good session in order to placate our egos. When we fail, we can't simply accept that it isn't always just because we lack a penis. Often it is because we lack some of the drive that our other coworkers (male and female) have.

 

Discrimination happens. I have been discriminated against. When I was younger, many managers felt that even though it looked like I knew what I was doing, I was too young for the responsibility that I was asking for. I have seen male colleagues get higher positions when they know less then me, and I can only assume that it was because they are men that I was passed over. But in reality, I am sure that I have discriminated against people myself. I tend to find most of the women I work with as stereotypical in terms of their work ethics and intelligence. I find that the men I work with are arrogant and often come across as sexist. But then again, I have also seen those roles reversed. I have been one to blame my emotional outbursts on being too "girl" and I know that I blame communication issues on guys because of their, well, guyness. How is that any better?

 

The list of speakers at this thing are pretty interesting.  A lot of them make a ton of sense for their cause, but then they have people like Bono? How does he fit? First off, how did he get in being that he is a guy? Second, how much girl power is involved if we are being told by a man to be strong about whatever the hell he is going to ramble on about?

 

I love being a woman. Despite the crying crap and that whole pesky menstrual thing, it is really quite entertaining to be a woman. Of course, I have no frame of reference on what it is like to be a man, but then again, not a lot of guys have that frame of reference either. LOL! Sorry, I just had to put the bad guy bashing joke in there, people.

 

I hope that as a mom of two boys, I will be able to teach them that they need to respect women not just because they are women, but because they should respect people who deserve their respect. There are going to be women in life that they will find to be terribly awful, and quite honestly, I don't want my kids being nice to them simply because they need to be nice to girls. People need to earn respect. Respect your elders, respect veterans, respect people who have done more then you. Fuck that. You need to respect only those people who have truly proven to you that they are worthy of your respect. I am not suggesting that they need to go around smacking people around until they prove themselves, but I am saying that it should not default to that level. Respect should not be doled out lightly.

 

So this takes us back to the conference. The first thing that comes to mind is Sarah Palin. Part of the campaign of her being selected is that she was going to appeal to women because, well, she is a woman. Whatever with that! She is an idiot, first off, and secondly, why in the world would I vote for someone just because they have breasts? If I was going to do that, couldn't I then vote for John Goodman? At least he is funny. And if we are able to write in a woman, I am going with Tina Fey since at least her Sarah Palin is fake! Either way, the idea that this is still the mentality in this country, that women should all vote for McCain because he appointed a female as his running mate, and blacks should vote for Obama because he is black (halfrican American to be exact) is absurd. And yet I feel to some degree that this conference promotes that feeling by suggesting that all women should attend in order to be enlightened.

 

Clearly I have no intentions on shelling out any kind of cash to attend the chick fest. More power to all of you who do get something out of it, but I urge you to think about why you are getting that message? Is it because you truly are inspired by an individual for what they have accomplished? Or are you inspired by their remarkable vagina? I think that if you can answer that question, you will know whether or not the message was really worthwhile.