Lessons For My Daughter.
As my daughter turned 10 a couple weeks ago, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about her hormonal changes and her body going from a little girl into a woman's body. I’ve been thinking about all the lies that we women are told and the cultural conditioning that happens at such a young age. About how we are taught that just because our bodies are different that they are less than. That our periods are something we should be ashamed of. And this has made me even stronger in my conviction of teaching my daughter (and any girl who will listen) she is perfectly made and her body is amazing. And to love herself and her body just the way she is.
I refuse to teach my daughter the narrative that something is inherently wrong with her. I refuse to teach her that she has been “cursed” because she bleeds once a month. I refuse to give my daughter the narrative that our culture tells women that we are somehow less than a man because we get our periods. I refuse to teach my daughter that this is a man's world and she needs to work twice as hard if she wants to make it. I refuse to teach my daughter all the cultural BS women are fed every day that we need to be a certain size, look and act a certain way or that she is not enough.
My daughter will know her worth. She will know she is enough just the way she is. She will know that her cycle is one of her many superpowers and when she leans into it she will fully lean into her creative power. I am teaching her how freaking amazing her body is. That it is ok to rest. She will find power and strength in the knowledge that her body isn’t broken and that she can work with her hormones to live a life She is proud of.
This is my hope not only for my daughter, but for all daughters, young and old. We as women deserve to know all these truths. We are not lost, we just need to unlearn. And in our unlearning, we have this opportunity to make sure our daughters don’t learn the same BS of cultural conditioning we have learned.
It’s time for us Mamas to come together and teach our daughters to embrace their bodies, their cycles and all the amazing aspects that make us uniquely female. These are our superpowers. And the world needs the feminine energy that only we can offer.