Attendees at Brooklyn’s 2012 Afro Punk Festival (lotuslandfineart.com)
In the United States today is Labor Day, a holiday in honor of the American worker. To honor some of the hardest workers out there, let’s talk about half the world’s population: women.
Some of the work women do is sex work. Many of them do not enter the sex work trade willingly; they are kidnapped, sold into it, or lied to about what kind of work they’ll be doing. Here is a video that raises awareness of human trafficking and challenges people, particularly the men who benefit from it, to stop supporting it.
As hard as women and girls work, we often suffer from a lack of confidence. This lack can be traced back to the conflicting messages we receive early in life. Psychologist Heidi Grant Halvorson talks about this phenomenon in her article “The Trouble with Bright Girls“.
Even outside of the work force, women receive pressure to conform to narrow definitions of what a woman “should” look like. Those who do not conform are shamed, even if they are displaying a praise-worthy willingness to try new things, be active, and enjoy life. Jennifer Davis-Flynn, online communications manager for Women’s Adventure, writes about her experience with this shaming and encourages us to be boldly adventurous, anyway.
In spite of the pressures and challenges, girls and women everyday do amazing things. Most of the time we don’t hear about them. But there are exceptions, like 10-year-old Zuriel Oduwole. She is a documentary film maker who has several high-profile interviews under her belt already. She is also the youngest person to ever be interviewed by Forbes Magazine! Best wishes to her in all of her endeavors!
