September 21 marked the International Day of Peace, and now here we are shining a light on how to empower girls. How do these two topics relate? Closely and powerfully. Educated, empowered women bring peace to their communities in countless important ways, including reducing violence, poverty and sickness.
Personal empowerment, like world peace, doesn’t spring fully formed. It begins in the most intimate surroundings of the home and family. It begins in the inner sense of security, safety and rightness that a child develops from the earliest moments of existence. It begins as womb peace and birth peace, then Mommy-and-Daddy peace, teacher peace and so on, rippling outward.
And for girls, one of the dimensions of selfhood that is particularly vulnerable to feelings of less-than, shame, and disempowerment has to do with her… well, yes… “that.” {Read more about “that”… and about empowering our daughters… at Family Guiding}
Tags: cycles, fertility, Jeannine Parvati Baker, menstruation, period
I wish to comment on Dr. Marcy’s emphasis on women’s periods, our mentrual cycles… I too believe in their extreme importance. In my generation our periods were looked upon with shame and embarrassment. We did all we could to cover them up, to make sure no one (partcularly guys) noticed. Happily for women of this generation, Dr. Marcy teaches them to treat their girls’ cycles with honor and respect… indeed, I feel the arrival of menstruation should be celebrated. Dr. Marcy’s advice is invaluable because it supports the independence and creativity that mothers today can imbue in their daughters. I had many problems raising my two daughters… where was Dr. Marcy when I needed her?! My daughters became more role models for me than I for them. Today they are adults and I continue to learn from them. Duffie Bart Santa Barbara, CA