Property of....You.

I recently came across a Facebook “rant” that really pushed my buttons. I’m not one to engage in online fights or comment battles, but I just couldn’t let this one go. This particular rant was imploring young women to stop posting revealing pictures on social media because (and this is the part that angers me) “your body belongs to your husband or future husband”. Well pardon me, but I was pretty certain my body belonged to me. I don’t remember having “Property of Spouse” stamped on my ass. I don’t recall a property deed included with my birth certificate, and yet time and again society and government will tell me my body isn’t mine, because I’m a woman. They will tell me I’m not allowed to make decisions about it. They will make laws that take away my right to do with it what I please.

The idea that a woman’s worth is directly proportional to her husband is both antiquated and outrageous. To say that a woman’s body belongs to her husband or partner is to devalue every moment she lived before she was married and teaches young women that their one goal in life is to strive for marriage. We no longer live in a world where women are expected to sit and wait until a suitable husband is found.  We are not property. We are beautiful creatures full of life. We have gifts, ideas, and dreams that are all our own. Even when we choose to be intimate with someone, we aren’t giving that person our body, we’re sharing it with them. That act is yours to share, not someone else's to take because they feel entitled to it.

Just because you don’t feel the need to post certain types of pictures online doesn’t mean you have the right to tell another woman that she can’t. Who are you to tell her that her body doesn’t belong to her?  Her choices are her own, just as your choices are your own. We don’t always have to agree with each other, but as women shouldn’t we respect each other? Shouldn’t we support other women instead of shaming them? The world is already against us, why must we continue to be against each other?

Things My Nieces Taught Me

I have two beautiful nieces, Kate and Emalyn. They are both so breathtaking and unique it’s hard to believe that they’re real. It’s hard to believe these two precious beings exist and that I get to be a part of their life. I get to watch them grow and learn and become two women the world has never seen before. I get to help them do that, I get to teach them things, but recently I realized something. It’s not about what I get to teach them, it’s about what they are teaching me. These are just a few lessons I’ve learned from my nieces.

  

             Live like no one is watching 

       Not just sing and dance, but live! My niece Emalyn, who is 3, was the recipient of an Elsa dress this Christmas. This was not any Elsa dress, this dress sang. When you pushed a button on the bodice “Let It Go” rang out all over the house, and Emalyn loved it. She sang, danced, and shot magic out of her hand with not even a hint of embarrassment. If only we could go after our passions with such abandonment. If only adults could forget about what anyone might think of their dreams and chase them as far as they could. What a life that would be.

 

      

      To treasure every moment of life 

       My oldest niece Kate is 7, and it seems every day is an adventure for her. Every day there is a new discovery to be made, and her excitement is contagious. We live in a hard world. One that insists we focus on work and the next dollar, but what if we took a moment to enjoy the world around us? What if we let ourselves get as excited as a 7-year-old. What if we let the laughter in and pushed the stress out?

      To be kind 

      Both my nieces are kind. Whether it’s insisting you have some of their snacks with them, or making sure you have the best hair in the play room, their kindness is evident from the moment you meet them. I think we could all stand to be a little more kind. To share a snack with someone. Imagine what a simple smile could do to someone else’s day.

           To cherish my sister 

       Emalyn and Kate love each other dearly. Kate is an amazing older sister, and Emy admires everything she does. They are good to each other. When you grow up and start to live your own life, it’s easy to take for granted that person who shared their Barbies and clothes with you once upon a time. My nieces remind me to be thankful for my sister, to cherish our memories and make new ones.  After all she made these beautiful girls, so she can’t be all a bad right? ;) 

     We often forget that the children in our life are full of a different kind of wisdom. They have yet to be jaded or scarred by this world and therefore see it in a completely different light. What a marvelous gift it must be, to view the world with the majesty and wonder of a child.