By Charlotte Fontaine
NASHVILLE, TN — Being a woman is simultaneously difficult and easy as smooth, hot honey running down a sore throat. Beyond the production of physical and mental upkeep, balancing a job, familial and romantic relationships, and keeping an eye on the oil in our cars, being a woman can be beautiful, fulfilling, and downright entertaining depending on the day and season of life. March is Women’s History Month, so I wanted to speak to women of different ages, races, and experiences who wanted to share their stories of feminine beauty and rage.
Voice-over actress Marlie Rodriguez, 28, states, “When I think of why I am proud to be a woman, I think about my mother, her mother, her mother’s mother. I come from generations of outspoken, creative, hilarious and deeply emotional and brilliant women who have taught me so much about how important it is to forge my own unique path, despite what is conventional.”
All of the women I spoke to at one time or another credited the women they grew up with, whether they knew them personally or from history, with their views of the world and, generally, their kindness towards it despite the ongoing battle for equality.
Jenny McGill, an 83-year-old first-generation American, said, “Women are the backbone of America. They hold families together. It feels like a great responsibility to be a woman which most women take on without any hesitation. ‘We are women, let us roar’, like the song says!”
Recent college graduate Hannah Hughes, 23, shared, “For me being a woman is embracing both the power and struggles that come along with it. Embracing my feminity while also challenging stereotypes. Being a woman feels powerful in today’s era.”
There was no contrast in answers I received from the many diverse women I spoke to; their experiences all had many commonalities in attitude and feelings.
Carole Gilardi, who is 86 and a former teacher, said, “I have such a sense of pride especially knowing that we are equal to everyone else on the planet and that all opinions matter. Also I have watched the growth of many women of my generation (the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s) adapt to a new understanding of being a woman and to make changes in families, business, and society in general. We were socialized to be sweet and affirming and that put us in a one-down position. No more! Generations of women fought hard to let women know they now have choices.”
Another common thread I found in women sharing their stories was a love and pride of the progress society has made, and even a feeling of (deserved) credit of those shifts themselves, but longing for more. More independence, and less misdirected voices.
Rodriguez continued, “Being a woman feels incredibly powerful and beautiful, and also incredibly frustrating. It is comforting to know that I am living in an era in which women are more respected than they’ve ever been and have more freedom than ever. At the same time I have to acknowledge that there is still much work to be done in regards to breaking down patriarchal systems that have kept women feeling inherently limited. Every day should be a day where women feel empowered, feel limitless potential, and are able to exercise boundaries that maintain their inner peace.”
With the summer success of the hit movie Barbie, what it means to be a woman has been a topic that can be mistaken for being overplayed. But it can never be talked about enough. This Women’s History Month, we are reminded to be strong, soft, and sentimental, while firm, focused, and fair, as is expected of us among a million other flawless and silent qualities that we as women are expected to embody every moment, as the queens of multitasking. I am excited to see what the future holds for these women I spoke to, and as a whole, and I wonder what these interviews would look like 100 years from now. Until then, the Italian expression seems fitting: Finché c’è vita c’è speranza! (As long as there is life, there is hope.)
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