Girls Who Swagger

Women swagger everywhere! On the website and in the book, we will explore what swagger looks like and how to get swagger at work, in sports, at church, in school, in relationships, and on the world stage.

As part of International Women’s Day, we’d like to feature

Asmaa Mahfouz

Egyptian activist, as a Woman with Swagger.

In case you haven’t yet seen her pivotal vlogs credited with drawing the people of Egypt into the streets during the January resistence movement, here is a montage:

And here she is again, on the streets…and again on TV.

Thank you, Asmaa.  And Happy International Women’s Day!

Women Crucial in Middle East Uprisings

In honor of International Women’s Day, the Girl’s Guide to Swagger gives a shout out to women throughout the Middle East for taking initiative in instrumenting change in their countries.

Whether organizing protests or organizing health services, supporting their children or breaking sexist taboos, women throughout the region have lost their fear in the face of brutality and gained the confidence to topple regimes.

We look forward to supporting the efforts of women throughout the Middle East and Africa to recreate their societies and governments.

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In Mideast Revolts, Women Emerge as Driving Force - Photo and Article Courtesy of AFP

Happy International Women’s Day.  Look for more blog posts throughout the day.

In honor of International Women’s Day, we will be featuring the spread of the Swagger Movement across the globe.

We now have a swagger member in Belgium!  I thought you might like to know a bit about Belgium, so I asked our friend to tell us something about her country – its government, treatment of women at work and in school.

 She says: 

 We’re a very small country, very culturally and linguistically diverse, and partly because of that we’ve always been very progressive (gay marriage and –adoption have been legalized a long time ago, same thing for euthanasia, etc). The backside of this is that the language issue has led to very complex politics…

On the treatment of women, she says:

I think we’re doing well on the women’s issue overall, although recent studies show that even here women are still generally paid 11% less than men – there have been discussions about making those wage differences illegal, but…nothing much is being done about that at the moment. Read More…

Do you believe that all people should be equal?   Women have been taking action to be recognized as equals throughout history.  Tuesday, March 8 is International Women’s Day.   It will be marked across the globe.

The day was officially recognized in 1911 – so this is the 100^th anniversary. This day honors women who have the confidence to change the world.

According to the UN:

International Women’s Day (8 March) is an occasion marked by women’s groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.

International Women’s Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike against men in order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling for “liberty, equality, fraternity” marched on Versailles to demand women’s suffrage.

Here is a statement Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:

It is a day to reflect on the progress the world has made in advancing women’s rights and to recognize what work remains to be done.

This year marks an anniversary very close to my heart. Fifteen years ago, along with women and men from around the world I attended the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. The message from that conference rang loudly and clearly, and still echoes across cultures and continents: Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.

One hundred and eighty-nine countries represented at Beijing adopted a Platform for Action that pledged to increase women’s access to education, healthcare, jobs, and credit, and to protect their right to live free from violence. We have made great progress, but there is a long way to go. Women are still the majority of the world’s poor, unhealthy, underfed, and uneducated. They rarely cause violent conflicts but too often bear their consequences. Women are absent from negotiations about peace and security to end those conflicts. Their voices simply are not being heard.

Today, the United States is making women a cornerstone of foreign policy because we think it’s the right thing to do, but we also believe it’s the smart thing to do as well. Investing in the potential of the world’s women and girls is one of the surest ways to achieve global economic progress, political stability, and greater prosperity for women — and men — the world over.

So on this International Women’s Day, let us rededicate ourselves to advancing and protecting the rights of women and girls, and to join together to ensure that no one is left behind in the 21st century.

Why would you want to swagger at work?  Aren’t there many dangers and risks? The answer is yes – there are danger and risks, but they are far outweighed by the fun, benefits and pay offs.

The goal of The Girl’s Guide to Swagger is to offer an approach to resolve the barriers to self-confidence that women face at work and to offer a third way – different than exhibiting only traditional feminine values or trying to copy men’s values.  Through stories of women who swagger and exhibit healthy self-esteem, Swagger at Work demonstrates ways to build confidence and invites women to tell their own stories of empowerment. Here is how I found my swagger:

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Both non-athletes and athletes have told me how they learned to swagger in the outdoors and sports. You can read about a world champion tri-athlete along with the stories of regular women who raft, bike, row, and soar. We will explore the challenges for women with swagger in sports, along with the successes and victories

Women who participate in sports face significant challenges. In a 2006 survey, “The New Normal? What Girls Say about Healthy Living,” conducted by the Girl Scout Research Institute, 40% of girls 11-17 reported that they don’t participate in sports because they don’t feel they’re skilled enough. Girls and women of all ages need the stories of encouragement and descriptions of athletic role models found in A Girl’s Guide to Swagger.

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Do you swagger at church?  Not too many women do.

Only a few women I interviewed identified the realm of religion as a place where they swaggered.  Michelle, who is the daughter, granddaughter, niece, sister and wife of a minister, was one of the few women to say she swaggers at church.  She says “as a minister’s daughter, all my life I was caught between someone standing up and saying what they believe and having other people think that is what I believe.  As a minister’s wife – you have to decide to be yourself and not feel inhibited.”  When Michelle first married Jacob she frequently said to herself “I can’t believe I married a minister!”  She even had an evil alter ego named Katrina who came out several times, usually after a few cocktails.  She says “I was very young and just married.  I hadn’t figured out how to reconcile the different parts of myself. Katrina was not very nice to Jacob or his job.  I had not figured out how to be me.”

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Many women experience swagger and success in the classroom.

Wendy says “My swagger in school began in a computer science class. The professor asked a difficult question and everyone in class decided to support the class brain’s approach to the problem.  I saw that there was a problem with that strategy and stuck to my own approach.  I was the only one in class to get it right.”

My swagger moment was deciding to become a college instructor when I was in a class taught by an opinionated chauvinistic man.  Read More…

Even those women who successfully swagger at work, in sports, church and the classroom have trouble swaggering in their family relationships. Women are chronically wrestling with multiple roles within their relationships and the ongoing need to assert themselves to achieve equality and success.

Some women, though, have found a way to carry their confidence into their personal relationships. Jessica says, “In relationships, I have swagger. In every moment it feels like I’m challenging the cultural trance about sexuality. I’ve told my partner that my vagina is not available to him now. I’m available to play sexually and to deepen our sexual intimacy, which is very different than mandatory intercourse. The swagger I express in this area is the opposite of our typical understanding of swagger in bed, which is defined as keeping up with the boys. Saying what’s true for me and no longer pretending is actually my most authentic expression of swagger.”

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Western women will change the world. Dali Lama

I believe that increased confidence among women is key to their ability to take leadership on the world stage and that increased feminine power will bring balance to a world dominated by male energy. The rising interest in the topic of female confidence and concern for the ongoing empowerment of women and girls has inspired the creation of new agencies and studies such as President Obama’s White House Council on Women and Girls and the recent  release of “The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything.” In 2008, Shriver’s conference sold 14,000 tickets in 20 minutes for a program titled “Women—The Architects of Change “and ultimately 25,000 women participated.

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