Women of virtue

I was watching a music video this morning of some ladies collaborating. I don't really want to name any particular artists because is not my intention to critique anyone in particular but to reflect on actions that can harm us all as women at the end of the road.

I was

reading the definition of self respect and it says, "pride and confidence in oneself; a feeling that one is behaving with honor and dignity." As women, we've been taken advantage of way too many times. History proves how we've been disrespected, dishonored, abused, discriminated, devalued among many other things. On the other hand, we were created to conquer so much more than what society thinks we can.

I believe it becomes an issue when women devalue themselves thinking that power lies in their bodies more than their minds and souls. Don't get me wrong, I love women confident enough to embrace their own natural beauty. Nonetheless, I think that if we want to live, maybe compete or even conquer a men's world we have to stop selling our bodies like we don't have anything else to offer.

I encounter fascinating how this article, an introduction to virtue ethics describes Aristotle's account of virtue:

"The Greek term that is usually translated as “virtue” is arête. Speaking generally, arête is a kind of excellence. It is a quality that enables a thing to perform its purpose or function. The sort of excellence in question can be specific to particular kinds of thing. For instance, the main virtue of a racehorse is to be fast; the main virtue of a knife is to be sharp. People performing specific functions also require specific virtues: e.g. a competent accountant must be good with numbers; a soldier needs to be physically brave. But there are also virtues that it is good for any human being to possess, the qualities that enable them to live a good life and to flourish as a human being. Since Aristotle thinks that what distinguishes human beings from all other animals is our rationality, the good life for a human being is one in which the rational faculties are fully exercised. These include things like the capacities for friendship, civic participation, aesthetic enjoyment, and intellectual enquiry. Thus for Aristotle, the life of a pleasure-seeking couch potato is not an example of the good life."

The Bible also says that there's a time for everything. So if I want to take things seriously and embrace myself as a professional woman, I think it is time for my wardrobe to follow the same message. I enjoy feeling sexy. The older I get the more I need to hear it. Still, there are way too many other things that feel my heart more than the way my legs look. I truly believe that it is very important to keep ourselves healthy and work out to try to look our best. It build very needed confidence. Even so, let's not forget the impact of the visuals. If a raper, a psychologist, a lawyer, a painter, a doctor, a singer, or a news reporter are the best at what they do but they explain their message naked I doubt that many of us will remember what they had to say. Let's be women of excellence. Let's enable ourselves to live to our purpose. Let's discover our virtues and focus on being the best we can so that our message can be as clear as pure water. Don't sell yourself. You're more than your sexuality regardless of what society says. Keep yourselves sexy but keep your minds sharper and don't forget to guard your hearts.

Love,

So