I am Woman...

I recently finished reading this book by Eve Ensler, the same woman who wrote "The Vagina Monologues." It's called "I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World." It's mainly geared towards teenage girls (although it was in the women's studies section of the bookstore), but almost every page has a few words or a section that feels like it speaks directly to me. It feels like what I would have said when I was a teenager, or what I've found myself saying in the past few years.

Even now in this day and age, girls are pressured into conforming to what society/their family/culture wants. Never mind what we feel or what we would like or how we would like to grow. We are forced to stifle the voice within us until it either fades away or grows louder and louder until it explodes into life.

Women are powerful creatures. We are told we are not, we are held down, forced down, humiliated, beaten, bruised, cut, mutilated, until we are nothing more than what others want us to be. Our wings are clipped so we cannot fly. Our voices are stifled until they are lost or drowned out. Our clitorises are cut so we do not realise the pleasure we can feel. Our bodies are not our own. So many girls around the world grow up, thinking they are nothing more than animals, less than human. And a lot of them will never know the truth.

We are powerful. Strong. Beautiful. Graceful.
We are determined. Bold. Creative. Idealistic.
We can change the world.

For so long I didn't know myself. Who I was, or what I was capable of. But I'm learning. Now, I know better. I am comfortable in my skin, as a person but also as a woman. I know the truths that society and culture doesn't want me to know. I am feeling my power and starting to exercise it. I am expanding my boundaries that the fear my mother ingrained in me kept me confined to. Once I was a shadow, but now I have substance.

This is my manifesto.

I am Woman.
I am powerful. Strong. Beautiful. Graceful.
I am determined. Bold. Creative. Idealistic.
I can change the world.

I want to learn more.
I have a brain thirsty for knowledge and a curiosity that cannot be contained.
I want to feel sensations I've never felt before.
I am a sexual creature and this isn't something to be ashamed or hidden.
It is a fact, and a part of myself I have too long denied.
It is something to be celebrated on my own terms. With the person I choose.
My sexuality is mine to control. No one else's.
I am a sensual creature.
I love to be held, stroked, caressed.
I am not ashamed of this. It is part of myself.

I have brains and beauty. Both make me who and what I am.
My clothing is my own to select. If I want to wear a short skirt, I will.
For my sake. Not yours.
I have shapely legs, a cute face, thick brown hair and a good sized bust.
I am short but perfectly proportioned for my size.
My body is mine to show and celebrate.
For my sake. Not yours.

When I am happy, I will laugh.
When I am sad, I will cry.
When I am angry, I will scream.
When I am excited, I will cheer.

My emotions are strong, uncontrollable by anyone but myself.
I am passionate.
I am loving.
I am tender.
I am sweet.
I am furious.
I am focused.
I am loyal.
I am opinionated.
I am stubborn.
I am intelligent.
I am supportive.

I am an emotional creature.
I can move mountains.
I can change the world.

And so can you. I believe in you. Believe in yourself.