“The women I love and admire for their strength and grace did not get that way because shit worked out. They got that way because shit went wrong and they handled it. They handled it a thousand different ways on a thousand different days, but they handled it. Those women are my superheroes.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert
All of us have to be strong at some points in their lives, in their careers, in the raising of their children, in caring for their parents, in dealing with issues that are just plain wrong. For some of us it’s just a constant way of being that becomes part of your character, when people describe you to others they say, she’s strong, she is brave, she can handle anything. I used to think you had to walk through fire to get that way, but now I think you can be raised that way too. I have three strong daughters who I am so proud of. Yeah, shit has gone wrong and we handled it, but I can honestly say I don’t know a single woman who hasn’t handled it and come out strong. I don’t think there are just a few strong women out there, I think we all are!
I was one of the first female draftsmen working on designing automotive tooling in the mid 70’s. I was one of the first female manufacturing engineers at GM, back in the early 80’s when the automotive engineering world belonged only to men. I was told by a few of my co-workers that I was robbing a man of a means to feed his family and treated like an unwelcome stranger. It took a few years but I was able to gain the respect of these men by learning fast and working hard and making myself a valued member of the teams I was part of.
We’ve come a long way since then, we’re getting closer to equal opportunity for good paying jobs, and equal pay for those jobs as the men doing the same jobs. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re getting closer. It’s pretty amazing that we’ve won so many battles, and are making progress getting women into positions we weren’t able to even dream about when I was growing up. Kamala Harris as Vice President elect of the country, Mary Barra as CEO of GM, so many women in Federal and State legislatures and government positions and in the courts.
So in honor of all the strong women in the world, and to aid the battle to get us the rest of the way there, I’ve created some tote bags to help spread the message. It’s no longer one, or two, or three of us who are strong – we all are. And we can work together and help each other out when we need it. We can be kind, and smart, and creative, and strong, and we can handle things in a thousand different ways for a better world for all of us.
