I am Woman Hear me Roar!

(Helen Reddy and Ray Burton)
I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'Cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again

Oh yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to
I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman

For full lyrics go to: http://www.lyricstime.com/helen-reddy-i-am-woman-lyrics.html

What a great song! Fab 50 Ad #12 - Going to learn the words to this song. Every time I am with a group of women and that song comes on, the whole room just rocks! The spirit of woman enters the room and sisterhood stomps its way onto the scene! 

It is interesting to note that Helen Reddy wrote that song in 1975 during the international year of the woman. The idea for the song came to me after reading the famous Speech (Fab 50 Ad # 19) by Ernestine L. Rose - Address on Women's Rights written in 1812. This rather long but simply amazing and articulate, as well as incredibly courageous, speech ends with the following quote: 

"But she must do it, or she will ever remain a slave, for of all tyranny that of superstition is the greatest, and he is the most abject slave who tamely submits to its yoke. Woman, then, must east it off as her greatest enemy; and the time I trust will come when she will aid man to remove the political, civil, and religious evils that have swept over the earth like some malignant scourge to lay waste and destroy so much of the beauty, harmony, and happiness of man; and the old fable of the fall of man through a woman will be superseded by the glorious fact that she was instrumental in the elevation of the race towards a higher, nobler, and happier destiny."

Had me thinking of the photo I saw of Hillary Clinton on the news last night shaking hands with some foreign diplomat, looking very tired, on the other side of the world, trying to bring peace and positive diplomatic relations in a world of utter chaos. We have a come a long way baby since that speech of 1812. 

I love a post I found at the end of the speech by Julianna Weisgarber · University of Northern British Columbia

"You don't have to look into history to see women's strength, although it is certainly there. Ask any adult woman about her life. Women survive the most horrific things in this world and overcome a constant deluge of attitudes that tell them that they aren't moral enough, strong enough, interesting enough, attractive enough, skilled enough, and smart enough, and live in cultures and societies that repeatedly tell them they don't matter. From male brutality and violence to being less valued than their brothers (or embryos), women in all countries still live in a toxic environment. But they continue to grow, learn, push forward and achieve their goals, often changing the world in the process."

I decided to google how many political women leaders we have in the world today. There are 20 Female world leaders currently in power. Check out http://www.filibustercartoons.com/charts_rest_female-leaders.php  if you would like to see the list. But then I found myself wondering about the question posed during the recent Presidential debates. A young women asked the candidates to describe what they would do to ensure equal pay for equal work. Neither candidate answered the question! They spoke of all of the support programs they would put into place for women so that they could in fact go to work, and stay there, (all great things) and then of course Biden made his now infamous statement about the "binder full of women" he now had, but not one word was said about proposing legislation that would make it illegal to pay a man more money for the same job, if both the man and woman had the same qualifications. Hmmmm seems like us women still have some work to do. 


Well that's all for tonight, kind of a heavy topic, but chin up ladies 
remember 

We are  woman, hear us roar!
In numbers too big to ignore,
And we know too much to go back an' pretend
'Cause we've heard it all before
And we''ve been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep us down again! 


I do have to say though, that if I think of all this in relation to the virtue of mindfulness, it certainly does make me grateful for the rights that I do have now as a woman, earned with great pain, hardship, and passion by all of those women who came before me. I am so happy to be able to come and go as I please, speak my mind, wear what I want, yell when I want, have relationships with whom I want, raise my children they way I want, vote and for who I want, debate in public, apply for the same jobs as a man, and heck even decide I don't need a man to survive or be loved (you go Ellen!).   

So on that note, until we meet again...