Womanhood of the world

Emily Bruzzo
Editor-in-Chief

I’ve gotten to know a lot of great women over the course of my 21 years. Perhaps these associations are because I’m a human of the XX variety, and they are only natural connections to make. Or perhaps they’re just the result of my having a knack for surrounding myself with kick-ass people. That’s right. I said it. Women are kick-ass.

If you’re a conservative, heterosexual white male who enjoys listening to Rush Limbaugh, and who values Sean Hannity’s opinions more than air itself, I should warn you now that this column will be steeped in the sort of feminist, female superiority, “Who run the world? Girls!” mentality that makes you want to grab Bill O’Reilly by the hand and go hide in the closest man cave you can find.

Just to clarify, I have a lot of qualms with what the feminist movement has become, and I’m far from the type of woman who thinks male castration is the best way to teach men a lesson when they don’t wash the dishes. For this specific column, though, I don’t care. I’m going to let my feminist flag fly. It’s October, dammit, and women are kick-ass.

For those of you who don’t know because you’ve somehow managed to circumnavigate the droves of volunteers asking for money and handing out pink and purple ribbons, October is Breast Cancer Awareness and Domestic Violence Awareness Month. These issues are by no means particular to women only; however, they tend to be primarily women’s issues, and I will discuss them as such.

According to the IRIS Domestic Violence Center, the FBI reports that a woman is battered every 15 seconds in the United States and 2-4 million American women are abused annually. IRIS reports that “White, Black, Hispanic & Non-Hispanic women have equivalent rates of violence committed by intimate partners.”

According to the CDC, in 2012, 224,147 women in the United States were diagnosed with breast cancer, and 41,150 American women died from the disease. Breast Cancer.org reports that about one in eight women — that’s roughly 12 percent — will “develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.”

Domestic violence and breast cancer are different issues, but they are issues that affect women everywhere. They are issues that connect us regardless of race, ethnicity or sexuality.

I could talk about these issues — especially domestic violence — as issues against women. But I’ve had several excellent examples in my life of ladies who have shattered the notion that women are powerless and have embedded in me a deep respect for the resolve of womanhood.

My sister and mother are the greatest women I know. I am the daughter of a teacher, and breast cancer survivor, who has taught hundreds of four year olds during their most formative years to love instead of hate, and to build bridges in a world that contains more ravines than paved trails.

I am the younger sister of a Legal Aid attorney who has empowered battered women for years, upholding their rights and strengthening their voices when they were told their mouths weren’t meant to speak. My sister has endured her own private hardships, and her past trials and tribulations inform the compassion and grace she embodies when she represents the downtrodden woman of our our small town with poor wifi and too many cows in Southwestern Virginia.

My paternal grandmother has buried a husband, a son and a grandson, yet her sharp wit and intellectual curiosity remain formidable. My maternal grandmother has buried a son, and has led a family in disarray, the matriarch for a chaotic Italian clan.

These are the women I emulate. These are the women who have taught me through their actions that I have a responsibility to help the fight to emancipate the marginalized of our society because I was lucky that I was born into the “right” family.

As October comes to a close, let us all reflect on the women who have shaped us.

This is not just a month to raise awareness and lead the campaign for necessary monetary support; this is a month to reflect on the wonders of womanhood, and the amazing women who have changed our world forever.