My ode to the countless inspiring and strong Women who continue to represent, not just our gender or being, but the Culture of Women, and their intricacies to society and the world around us.
“I forgot about you today, but I think of you often. Probably more than you know. I’ve been worried about you, worried that you’re alone, no one is listening, no one cares, no one realizes the difference you make, no one respects you. But I do. Like you, I am a Woman too, and share your feelings. I stand with you, for you, and our future.
There are more of us now, supporting each other, being compassionate, fighting for our rights, making a stand, expressing our unique and extra – special voice, believing that change is not only coming, yet it has already arrived.”
Is anyone else still riding on the ecstasy train of Oprah’s Golden Globe speech? I know I am. There is no other critical time than the present for women to be heard, push forward, and bring meaning to our country considering the insurmountable issues like race, gender, equality, sexual orientation, choice, the ability to live in this country and achieve your academic (or non – academic) goals and dreams, the list goes on and on.
I am thankful to be witness to the powerful women who are making a stand and shedding light on issues that are important to them – to us; and the fact that they can stand for themselves when it feels as if no one else is standing with them.
It is with this, that I am reminded of the story of Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll, 1865). You see, it was during my undergraduate classes at Arizona State University when I sat in a peculiar class of over two hundred students, taught by a peculiar teacher who preferred to be known as “The Love Doctor”, who related the peculiar story of Alice in Wonderland to who she believed modern young women should aspire to be.
In Tim Burton’s modern remake (2010), Alice returns to an unwelcoming Wonderland, in which no one believes she is who THEY NEED her to be. But in the end, she pushes forward, challenges doubt (both the doubt of others and herself), faces her demon by slaying the jabberwocky, and becomes who SHE NEEDS to be in her own regard.
Dr. Love, also known as the media -literacy advocate Dr. Mary-Lou Galician, refuted the ideas of “princesses waiting for a prince to save them”. Rather, she believed, that like Alice, women should take a stand, battle their own battle, and discover who they are on their own individual journey — because we are forever changing and ” may be a different person than [we] were yesterday” (Lewis Carroll).
Continue on, Alices of the world. Thank you.