Being Small
I’ve been thinking a whole lot about ‘living small’. Sometimes little girls are managed and controlled with a tactic in an effort for conformity. When she reaches for what she wants, she is labeled ‘aggressive’, ‘bossy’, ‘pushy’, ‘demanding’ to name but a few. Are little boys managed in the same way? Often he is applauded for his ‘commanding presence’ ‘assertiveness’, ‘self directedness ’such admirable qualities. Do differences in language encourage; in a very subtle way, the message that a woman’s’ value is had in remaining small? “You better not be all that! Who does she think she is?”
The problem with staying small is the inability to be comfortable in our own skin. I am dressed in someone else’s ‘I’ll fitting ‘ clothing I am unable to feel strong and confident. I am unable to claim a place at the table and embrace all the gifts that are the truth of me.
How do we best change the conversation for our little girls? Maybe we are now able to see that to condition a human being to be a fraction of who they are, in an effort to conform is a distortion of self that just doesn’t serve.