This week also marks a shift in my attention and my personal stress level. As the media creates a “stormy debate” on the rights of women, let’s focus on the foundational basis for the stress women deal with daily – powerlessness in systems. In the family, the organizations, schools, and certainly churches and government, women as a group are defined as powerless.
Individual women make dramatic, powerful, amazing changes in their lives despite the system challenges. While women change and move forward into positions of power, the systems in our country remain static and frankly, stuck. The United States ranks 78th in the world with numbers of women in political positions of power! This is a stuck system and it allows discrimination and efforts to reverse years of legislation allowing individual choice and freedom in individual health issues – and in life.
In a healthy system statements like those made by Rush Limbaugh would be summarily trounced/disclaimed by all political, governmental, organization leaders. In fact, statements like his would no longer be thought rational or sane….however, most of our leaders are “careful” with him. He represents power – negative power – in a white male dominated system.
Women need to continue to claim their personal power and put an equal focus on system power. The socialization of girls and women gets in the way of understanding how important it is to look “outside yourself” to understand your challenges – not for blame but for analysis and problem solving. Fortunately the current dialogue will hopefully bring attention to these issues — fostering healthy, positive changes in systems in general.
For diving into this more deeply, consider reading my book. Release From Powerlessness: Take Charge of Your Life. A new third edition is available on Amazon or via my website. Hang in there! Understand that a huge chunk of stress comes from inequity in relationships personally and organizationally. AND you can face it and change it…..