Women’s Empowerment Session- Roe V. Wade - Indianapolis, Indiana
“My idea of how choice should have developed was not a privacy notion, not a doctor’s right notion, but a woman’s right to control her own destiny, to be able to make choices without a Big Brother state telling her what she can and cannot do.”
- RBG
Conversations with RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, and Law by Jeffrey Rosen
A Quick Introduction
My name is Colleen and I am, how you could say, Mrs. BradleyMichael.co! Bradley asked me if I could start contributing to the experience blogs that we love to share about the work we do here! With my inner dork screaming about getting to whip out my communication degree, I grabbed my glasses and laptop, and…here I am!
On a much more serious note, I am truly grateful to have my first blog with BradleyMichael.co be on an issue that I am deeply passionate about - Women’s Rights!
Preface:
I am not here today to try to make you believe one thing over another. I understand that everyone has their own life experiences that make up who they are and how they understand the world - We LOVE this! And at the core that is what I am here to try and put an emphasis on - the celebration of what makes a woman’s life so authentically, beautifully, and absolutely hers. So please, sit back and enjoy some fiercely exquisite women standing up for themselves and their futures.
These Women Rock!
All of us ladies arrived at the studio in the early afternoon. As group interactions typically first go, there is a warm-up period for everyone to get comfortable with everyone else in the group. Well let me tell you, nothing brings people together like painting each other’s bodies in the blazing heat for nearly forty-five minutes! While the shoot itself was relatively quick (because everyone nailed their shots right off the bat) it was the time beforehand that I truly loved the most. As everyone was transforming into their final looks, I felt like I could really appreciate all the different ways that all of these different women cared about and wanted to express their emotions on the recent Roe V. Wade events.
First up meet Geri Cook (on your left) and Katie Hurley (on your right), these two showed up for the day ready for action with their hanger and sword props! There’s something to say about the emotion of anger, and I stumbled upon a quote the other day by Kathleen Hanna that says,
“When you speak up about any sense of unfairness or injustice, you're told that you're overreacting, you're too angry, too silly-shut up already. It takes a tremendous amount of fortitude to be able to live in this world as a woman, let alone a woman who wants things to change.”
Pst! Check out this awesome read if you want to know more! The Riot Grrrl Collection
These women are so important because they are taking a stance…their stance! It really takes a lot to not only state your opinion but want to take it and turn it into art - something that is personal and powerful. At BradleyMichael.co we love celebrating that everyone has their own voice and their own story that they want to share. Let’s celebrate these differences and appreciate the journey that every woman has been on not reprimand them for speaking up on what’s important to them!
Up next we have (on the left) Morgan Andrews and (on the right) Tawnee Lee Conklin. Now, these two women know how to command a room! What I truly loved, though, was the messages on their bodies. Because no matter the reason for the words and images, they are all there to show that women just want to be able to control their lives and futures. And I truly believe that Hillary Clinton said it best when she said,
“Human rights are women's rights, and women's rights are human rights. Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely — and the right to be heard.”
What I believe has been missing from the entire conversation are the elements of respect and positive, progressive communication. In almost everyone’s mind, there is a clear wrong and right decision to the situation…but that’s exactly the point! If we can all recognize that every woman’s feelings, values, and thoughts are valid AND correct then why must we choose such a narrow path to try and progress upon? Men have full autonomy over their body and their future…why is that not the case for women? (I’m going to say this one more time for the people in the back) Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights!
The final beauty that I get to introduce is Matty Manning! It is so important that transwomen are able to represent themselves and their voices without fear of being discredited or reprimanded! I reached out to Matty for a quote on what this shoot meant to her and she said,
“I am a transwoman. I was born without a uterus. The overturning of Roe V. Wade may not directly impact my body, but I look at my friends and family and I know that I cannot be silent. I am here to stand up and fight for body autonomy for all of my sisters.”
I cannot emphasize this enough, women, especially in times of uncertainty, need to band together and become a larger force - not start hurting and judging one another. I know that I have thrown a lot of quotes on you in this blog, but I wanted to finish with one by Audre Lorde. The quote goes, “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”
No matter the voice, the person, or the backstory - everyone is welcome at BradleyMichael.co