"Women need to have respect for other women"
Was the one statement that really stood out for me in Oprah's interview with Elizabeth Edwards regarding the mistress in the affair with her husband, John Edwards. It's so very true and unfortunately I think it's something we're not teaching our daughters to do. It's a role model that needs to be passed down.. a living example of that Golden Rule.
It's like anything else...I cannot expect someone who has never been abused...sexually, emotionally, physically...to ever really understand the struggle, the pain, and fears that I have lived and experienced. I can tell my story, share with them my words, my emotions, but unless you've been there, the depths of those emotions cannot be felt for what they really are.
How many times have you heard a group of teenage girls sit around and critique one of their peers for the way they look, or their lot in life? It's vicious. I remember those days clearly. To say I haven't taken part in such a conversation at some point in my life, I would be a liar.
Women carry that on into their adults lives. Our rather well developed communication skills can work against us as a gender - gather a group of women together and often you will hear them discussing another female.
We as women need to think of those times when we are alone with our thoughts, and memories. How deep our hearts are, and each thought...each memory is connected to an emotion we feel throughout our being....and know that...that capability to feel so intensely...is a gift that makes us a woman.
That other woman you may sit in judgement of has those quiet moments. That other woman you're envious of knows what it is like to experience those dreams and fears. If we lose site of that, I think we also disrespect ourselves.
Men know this. Men respect other men for the things that make them that masculine gender....being that provider, that protector...but women who disrespect that heart of another woman are clueless, and don't even respect their own femininity.
So yes, "Women need to respect other women" is something each of us I feel should keep in mind the next time we judge that other woman..conspire against them...intrude on their lives...take part in breaking their hearts..destroying their marriages...careers...lives.. If we as a gender can remember those times each of us are alone with ourselves...our hearts..our dreams...our emotions and memories and realize that is what makes us so special as a gender ...as a female...that's when true equality will be reached.
Hope this made sense...my thoughts are a bit disjointed this morning as I reflect on Elizabeth Edward's interview. I can only imagine what she thinks of during those quiet times...the thoughts...the fears...the dreams...the memories....but knowing a woman's heart, I am sure she aches in ways I would never want to feel for myself. She's a strong woman.
Was the one statement that really stood out for me in Oprah's interview with Elizabeth Edwards regarding the mistress in the affair with her husband, John Edwards. It's so very true and unfortunately I think it's something we're not teaching our daughters to do. It's a role model that needs to be passed down.. a living example of that Golden Rule.
It's like anything else...I cannot expect someone who has never been abused...sexually, emotionally, physically...to ever really understand the struggle, the pain, and fears that I have lived and experienced. I can tell my story, share with them my words, my emotions, but unless you've been there, the depths of those emotions cannot be felt for what they really are.
How many times have you heard a group of teenage girls sit around and critique one of their peers for the way they look, or their lot in life? It's vicious. I remember those days clearly. To say I haven't taken part in such a conversation at some point in my life, I would be a liar.
Women carry that on into their adults lives. Our rather well developed communication skills can work against us as a gender - gather a group of women together and often you will hear them discussing another female.
We as women need to think of those times when we are alone with our thoughts, and memories. How deep our hearts are, and each thought...each memory is connected to an emotion we feel throughout our being....and know that...that capability to feel so intensely...is a gift that makes us a woman.
That other woman you may sit in judgement of has those quiet moments. That other woman you're envious of knows what it is like to experience those dreams and fears. If we lose site of that, I think we also disrespect ourselves.
Men know this. Men respect other men for the things that make them that masculine gender....being that provider, that protector...but women who disrespect that heart of another woman are clueless, and don't even respect their own femininity.
So yes, "Women need to respect other women" is something each of us I feel should keep in mind the next time we judge that other woman..conspire against them...intrude on their lives...take part in breaking their hearts..destroying their marriages...careers...lives.. If we as a gender can remember those times each of us are alone with ourselves...our hearts..our dreams...our emotions and memories and realize that is what makes us so special as a gender ...as a female...that's when true equality will be reached.
Hope this made sense...my thoughts are a bit disjointed this morning as I reflect on Elizabeth Edward's interview. I can only imagine what she thinks of during those quiet times...the thoughts...the fears...the dreams...the memories....but knowing a woman's heart, I am sure she aches in ways I would never want to feel for myself. She's a strong woman.
Comments
Thank you for sharing such wise words. ;-)