Do you know a Harvey Weinstein?

 I heard a talk show host on an American TV show say this recently. So Harvey Weinstein is now the international name we identify with for men who are essentially predators to women.

I’m really relieved we can identify this kind of behaviour with a name. It’s like now we have this example it allows all women to realise that the behaviour from men who have acted like Harvey Weinstein in their lives is not on and we won’t tolerate it. It allows us to recognise that it wasn’t our fault. It’s clear from all the media lately and the #metoo on instagram that there’s been a hell of a lot of this going on. So why haven’t we spoken up before now?

I truly believe that we needed a terrible example like Harvey Weinstein to mess up in such a public arena for us to realise that this kind of behaviour we have tolerated for so long is wrong. We needed that international name to empower us and to get the conversation started. For so long the pressures not only from men but women too, have made us think that we need to ‘act like a lady’. We shouldn’t be too loud. We should be grateful we are allowed to even work in a mans world, it’s simply the price you pay for going for the big jobs with the big CEO’s and owners all being men. Women’s reality has been that if you are going to make it to the top you have to sleep your way there, or fend off the men who expect you to sleep with them, annnnnnd if you speak up about it then you can most definitely expect to resign the following day. 

I don’t know about you but I am feeling so God damn proud to be a woman at this time. Finally someone has spoken up and empowered all of us to stand up and allow our voices to be heard. It is a huge risk for these Hollywood Actresses to bring this information forward to the media and I’m sure Rose McGowan (being one of the first to speak up) felt she would never work in Hollywood again. For someone so talented and ambitious this would have been such a massive sacrifice. Our new role models have become women who can speak up despite the consequences. 

So now ladies…..We have the opportunity to empower each other as we create our unique path to success. It’s our time! And when we stick together, when we feel powerful for being female, allowing our nurturing, vulnerable, empathetic, sexy, strong, ambitious, complex and everything else that embodies being a woman to shine through, we will over come all that we have endured and finally get the respect and acknowledgement we have been fighting for for so many years. Women through generations have fought for us so if you ever have any doubt or feel like you need inspiring just remember that you have all the women from centuries ago who have fought, lost jobs, sacrificed for the next generation there with you, backing you always, walking with you always and giving you all the strength you will ever need. 

We no longer need to become men to forge our way into a ‘man’s world’ because things are changing. We can stay sexy, strong, wear that red lipstick, throw on those heels, stand out and enjoy everything that is woman while we forge our way to the top in whatever our goals might be.

You know, I’m a Mother and I can honestly say that I often draw on that strength from generations of women past, because feeling like your time is right now and feeling like you can stay sexy (while changing nappies, doing the washing, waking up in the night) takes strength too.

So no matter where you are at in life or what your dreams might be let’s all stay sexy on the inside for as long as we walk on this Earth together.