Girl Power Baby!!!

Feminism. Sounds a bit sort of dry and academic or something doesn’t it? A bit stiff and harsh: political. It also sounds a bit outdated, something that you've heard about that happened 50 years ago or so. Some hippie chicks got all angry and started burning bras and wearing pants and stuff coz they weren't getting paid enough or something like that. Anyway it all ended and now things are much better for girls and women these days, right?

Not necessarily.

Nowadays they sometimes call it girl power: but what is it and what, if anything, is it achieving? Well, the idea behind this whole girl power thing is to make sure girls and women can be all that they can be and not be restricted by society's ideas of what they should be. It's about respect and appreciation. It’s about standing up for yourself. As it is today, girls don’t get treated on the same level as guys. Women generally get paid less. There are far fewer women in positions of real power and influence. And we are treated as sexual objects. Take a look around you and check out the messages girls get sent through the media . . .

What is it with the girl's mags? On one page you'll have a story about positive self-image and the next a story about some celebrity who’s having weight problems or tips for the latest fad diet.

Or there'll be a big feature all about being a strong, independent girl who knows what she wants and how to get it running right next to a bunch of tips on how to please your boyfriend in bed! Talk about mixed messages!

And what about music videos? Is there any video where the girl isn't sexed up to the max? Check out the dancing and the outfits. It's out of control! All booty-shaking and micro-microscopic dresses. Sure, you might say, “So what? That doesn’t affect me!” You may not think so, but it does. In a sneaky, roundabout way. It's all sending out the message that sex is where it's at for a girl. It’s how you gain control, right? Guys like to look at girls, therefore if you play up to that you are the one with the power. Um; not really. No matter what you get told (or sold) being constantly sexually available and upfront is not necessarily empowering. More often than not it’s simply making you think you are in control of yourself and your sexuality, whilst at the same time giving guys exactly what they want! It's got girls playing into the male fantasy of them whilst fooling them into thinking they're the ones in control. It's genius really. Evil genius.

So it’s pretty obvious then that with all these negative or confusing messages being sent out constantly it’s only natural that girls will be affected, and not in a positive way. There’s no way known a normal girl can possibly absorb all this information without being, at the very least, confused about what’s expected of her. Your value as a person isn't how you look or how ‘sexy’ you can be or how easy it is for you to get guys: it’s what you do and what sort of person you are. Simple as that. How hard a message is that to get out there?

As you can see; girls and women are not yet on equal terms with men. Nowhere near it. While it’s not as bad as it was 50 years ago, there's still a fair way to go, and some of these latest trends are sending the cause totally backwards. The idea of feminism is simply to enable us chicks to have the same rights and be given the same treatment by society as guys.

To be seen as equals, not objects.

Sounds fair enough, right? It doesn’t make you a man-hater or anything; it just means you wanna be respected, like you deserve to be. So make some noise about it. Be whoever you want to be and don’t let whatever you see around you dictate that to you. And if a guy wants you to be a certain way to be with him, then you don't need him. You know why?

Coz you have girl power.