As an independent woman with mostly conservative-ish values, all of the women’s rights protests have me thinking about my views on the world in which I am raising a daughter. Is it possible that it is as bad as some my friends are making it out to be? Is it as equal as I have felt all my life? Is it the world I want my daughter to grow up in?
As a quick caveat, I will say that a lot of the protests seemed to come down to the issue of pro-choice vs. pro-life, and I will not be addressing that here. My view on this issue was so emotional for me as a teenager and early adult that I lost a lot of relationships, and really felt that God led me away from this as a passion. I 100% know where I stand on this issue, but it is not one that I will address publicly.
My Wishes for this World for my Daughter include:
- A world where she can be anything her heart dreams to be
- A world that admires her compassion for others
- A world that cheers when she advocates for what her heart strongly believes in
- A world that doesn’t tell her who she is based on her skin color, gender, or last name (or any other label for that matter)
- A world that allows her to show tolerance to those different from her, while also giving her the ability to gently share her thoughts on issues as well
- A world that celebrates both mommas that spend their days staying home with little people and also uplifts mommas who make the choice to go to work outside the home
- A world that she need not prove herself to. She is created in God’s image, and SHE is ENOUGH.
It is my prayer that my beautiful daughter not try to fit into any of the labels the media or our society, or men, or other women try to peg us into. My hope for her is that she dream incredibly big and experience so much joy along the path of chasing those dreams. I pray that she surround herself with a tribe of other girls and boys who build her up and cheer her on. I pray that her innocence and ignorance of racism, genderism (is that a word?), and hate of any group of people continue for so many years to come. I pray that all of you telling us how bad the world is don’t dampen her tenacity to change the world! She can be a conservative liberal tolerant feminist if that works for her, and don’t you dare tell her otherwise! I love you Sydney, and you really can be absolutely anything you want to be, baby girl! Don’t you dare let someone limit you with a silly label or a doom and gloom report of society!
The Brooks Family 