Empowering Women & Raising Boys

Today is International Women's Day; a day I love as it celebrates the force that is female, allows us to celebrate sisterhood and all that it means to be a woman. How many women before me suffered suppression or only dreamed for opportunities that I have today because of movements like IWD that bring awareness to gender inequality? Countless.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to rise above biases and be celebrated in the workforce. I was so honoured to have brought hundreds of women together through events Hautebox produced, a company I Co-Founded on the premise that we (women) bring a fire when we are together and our energy united.

But in the past few years, as I have become the mother to not only one beautiful baby boy, but now two, my perspective on days such as today has shifted. I see so many images, captions and comments about women running the world, being bosses, calling the shots - and I love it! - however, I fear some of this has gone too far.

Who run the world? Girls! Yes, ok, but what does that message send to my little boys? As their mama, a woman who deeply believes in and cherishes the value of the female, I believe it is my role instil that same gratitude and respect that I hold so dear into their hearts and minds. To foster the growth of boys to men who also celebrate and respect women for the force that they are while uncompromising their own self-worth.

Somewhere in the celebrating of how fierce we are, I’ve seen a feminist message that is degrading to men and it saddens me. It feels like childish banter, almost as if it takes me back to the grade school playground hearing “Girls Rule, Boys Drool!” and I can’t help but feel that it’s the opposite purpose of movements such as International Women’s Day.

There is no higher purpose I can serve in my life right now than to raise my boys to be kind, loving, generous and gracious human beings; and within that I hope to install a deep reverence for not only the women in their lives, but all women they encounter.

As mothers raising boys, if we can accomplish bringing up the next generation of men to truly honour, value and support women, well then, I would say we would make any feminist proud.

HERE’S TO STRONG WOMEN

MAY WE KNOW THEM

MAY WE BE THEM

MAY WE RAISE THEM

xo.

Gretchen