Name: Charlotte Heaton
Grade: Year 11
Age: 17 Years
School: Scone Grammar School
Hometown and State: Scone, New South Wales
LIFTING US UP – How can women and girls empower each other and their communities in times of uncertainty and change?
Empowerment is one of the most complex necessities of life, especially for women. We feel the need to lift each other up but continue to judge and comment behind the scene. Sometimes it can feel the whole world is against us and things would be so much easier as a man. So where do we start or stop to change this? Personally, I am all about the simple things in life and I believe that from little things big things grow. For this reason I believe to empower each other lift each other up we have to simply begin. Start with a smile or a compliment and a belief that we can change the world.
Have you ever felt the power of a true smile or a genuine compliment you know is meaningful? I hope so, because we all deserve to feel the power and pure happiness when you know someone genuinely wants to make you happy, and that, to me, is one of the most powerful thing we, as women and girls, can do everyday to support the women in our lives. This self-empowerment doesn’t only come from receiving, it also comes from giving and realising you have brightened someone’s day. That is true empowerment. Starting from the basics, we can empower and lift up women and girls to share this feeling creating a ripple effect.
Often in our lives and communities girls and women are taught to see other girls and women as competition or even threats, not as allies. We have to manage with the way society can treat us and being torn down by other women. This is where we need to stop it at the start. Women, as a whole population need to listen and share with each other so we can truly understand and support each other. We need to shine a light in the shadows and talk about our problems and issues so we can truly start to rebuild and empower.
When we empower others, we assist them to take control of their lives and to have the skills and confidence they need to act, to make decisions and face difficulties. How do we go from smiling and sharing compliments to empowering those around us? We need acceptance, seeing women for who they are and then consciously and always building their self-belief, encouragement, of every position and choice in life, and most importantly love. In times like this what are we if we arenäó»t the love we share. So, as women and girls, who Beyoncé most famously said “run the world” – let’s begin to run this world, one small act at a time.