My Slice of Life Story

This is my first time posting to this weekly forum, but I have been inspired by others who have boldly gone before me, so here goes…

My slice of life story comes from a conversation I had with my daughter last night as she prepared for her college debate today on street harassment. A little background…

My husband and I are both teachers and progressive in thought so it shouldn’t surprise us we have raised a like-minded daughter who feels her “place” in life is to defend those unable to defend themselves.  She is an activist in the purest form and thrives on helping the underdog; the ones people forget about.  As a child she was always bringing home a stray animal or trapping a spider in a cup to “release into the wild” instead of squashing it under her shoe.  As she matured, her initiatives did as well and her most recent undertaking, that of street harassment, has made us very proud.

Maggie believes that women, and men, have a right to walk down the street and not be subjected to cat-calls, whistles, or harassment by other members of society.  At first glance, this may seem like “not a big deal”, construction workers and men in cars have been guilty of this for decades with no negative attention until recently.  The news media has brought this topic to the forefront with Congressional officials being accused of sexual harassment in the workplace and media journalists poking fun at women who “should be thankful for a positive compliment”. This type of message is not beneficial to our young people! We are attempting to educate our youth to hold values of equality and compassion and if subjectification of women is accepted, in any form, we are sending a message to young girls that looks and body size matter, but not your thoughts.  This is a dangerous message and one we need to stop before future generations of young girls are affected. From magazine pages to commercials, movies to music, and everyday life on our city streets, our youth need more positive role models to emulate; role models who are valued for their compassion, honesty, generosity, intelligence, bravery, and kindness – not because they are a size 2 and look good in a pair of jeans.

My daughter is a constant reminder to her father and I of what young people are capable of: resisting stereotypes and redefining beautiful, taking a stand for what you believe in, even if it’s not popular, and striving to be a person you are proud of because you made a difference in the world. Kudos to all young people who are shattering our view of reality and forcing us to change our ideologies and make the world a better place!

This is dedicated to my daughter – I am proud to be your mother!