What is power? Simply put, it's the ability to make our own decisions. When we give our power away we're actually allowing someone else to make our decisions for us. Why do we do this? Part of the reason is that many of us have been conditioned to do so.
Like many girls, I was raised on Prince Charming. In literature, he is this rich, charming, romantic, handsome prince who comes along to rescue women who need saving. This gallant figure on his white horse "saved" Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. For girls he is the idealized man who saves the day. Curiously, there is a play entitled Into the Woods and in it Prince Charming has an affair. When confronted by Cinderella about it he says, "I was raised to be charming, not sincere." In other words, he's all style and no substance.
There are a number of problems with Prince Charming. One, only girls read Prince Charming books. Boys don't. They have no concept of Prince Charming. So, while girls grow into women and wait around for their Prince to save them, boys are out slaying dragons, exploring new continents and saving the world.
The real problem with this fairy tale is that girls are led to believe that if they are docile, inactive, weak and indecisive, then Prince Charming is going to come along and make all their dreams come true--yeah, right. You can wish and hope all you want but chances are pretty slim that such a guy is never going to appear.
The danger with characters like Cinderalla and so forth is that they give all their power away to other people. They sit and wait around for someone to make them happy instead of taking action to find fulfillment and happiness themselves.
In this blog I'd like to share how women give their power away but more importantly how we can take it back. And we women can take our power back because IT'S OUR POWER! As women, we need to operate from a position of strength, not weakness. When we operate from a position of weakness, what we are really doing is giving our power to someone else.
Next time we'll look at specific ways to take our power back. In the meantime, keep the power!!
Like many girls, I was raised on Prince Charming. In literature, he is this rich, charming, romantic, handsome prince who comes along to rescue women who need saving. This gallant figure on his white horse "saved" Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. For girls he is the idealized man who saves the day. Curiously, there is a play entitled Into the Woods and in it Prince Charming has an affair. When confronted by Cinderella about it he says, "I was raised to be charming, not sincere." In other words, he's all style and no substance.
There are a number of problems with Prince Charming. One, only girls read Prince Charming books. Boys don't. They have no concept of Prince Charming. So, while girls grow into women and wait around for their Prince to save them, boys are out slaying dragons, exploring new continents and saving the world.
The real problem with this fairy tale is that girls are led to believe that if they are docile, inactive, weak and indecisive, then Prince Charming is going to come along and make all their dreams come true--yeah, right. You can wish and hope all you want but chances are pretty slim that such a guy is never going to appear.
The danger with characters like Cinderalla and so forth is that they give all their power away to other people. They sit and wait around for someone to make them happy instead of taking action to find fulfillment and happiness themselves.
In this blog I'd like to share how women give their power away but more importantly how we can take it back. And we women can take our power back because IT'S OUR POWER! As women, we need to operate from a position of strength, not weakness. When we operate from a position of weakness, what we are really doing is giving our power to someone else.
Next time we'll look at specific ways to take our power back. In the meantime, keep the power!!
The Prince Charming analogy is great!! I've never thought of it that way before. I love the analogy at the beginning of "He's Just Not That Into You" (if a boy is mean to you, it means he likes you), but this was the first time I had ever thought of the fact that only girls read about Prince Charming so how could a boy even know how to be him.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read more!!
Thanks Adopted Abby! Stay tuned:)
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