How a Tree Represents the Evolution of Female Empowerment
March 20, 2023
Author: Carly Schneider
Editor: Maureen Diehl and Maddie Canter
In honor of Women’s History Month, I want you to take a moment and visualize a tree. Just a simple, grown tree. These three aspects of the plant probably crossed your mind: the hidden roots, the sturdy trunk, and the branches and leaves that sporadically diffuse in different directions. Each of these attributes of the tree bloom from one another— you simply cannot have the array of leaves without the underground roots. The way in which these aspects connect and weave together to form a healthy, growing product can be applied to the everlasting idea of female empowerment.
First, we have the roots, coming from various directions, that all work together to prompt the tree’s growth. In my mind, these serve as the initial divides in equalities and rights among men and women: women being the supporters while men are the providers, women’s lack of voting rights, and women’s inability to freely divorce on their own volition. As a result of these inequalities, the roots also represent different opportunities for growth and empowerment. Eventually, these disparities all reach the same overarching goal of stimulating progression— the beginning of the tree trunk.
The tree trunk is sturdy; it serves as a stable and necessary backbone for the rest of the tree to flourish. To me, this part epitomizes the ways in which women have worked to obtain the rights of men in an attempt to rightfully put everyone on the same level. The trunk is the rise of women’s participation in various workforces, the Seneca Falls Convention, the 19th Amendment, the inauguration of Vice President Kamala Harris. Historically, women have successfully achieved similar statuses and roles as men; but, we must continuously strive to make these historic events standards, rather than rarities. This trunk of progression universally bridges the gap between male and female actions and achievements, ultimately leading to the unique experiences women have as a result of such advances.
Just like every branch and leaf on a tree is different, these final pieces illustrate how we individually experience and apply female empowerment and progression in our everyday lives. For myself, it’s acquiring an education at Ross to propel my future career in finance— an area where women are absolutely underrepresented. It’s immersing myself in two female-dominated clubs which operate as comfortable and safe environments. It’s living in a house with sixty women and constantly being cheered on while looking at my new outfits in the hallway mirror. Everyone has their own ways of growing different leaves of empowerment.
The growth of a tree takes time, just as we still have much work to do in terms of equality and progression; it is by continuing to foster a supportive, fair world and seek genuine progress, that we extend our branches. Trees are a natural symbol of how female empowerment continues to blossom and flourish that we can appreciate any day, whether it’s Women’s History Month or a random afternoon in September. They are constant reminders of what it means to feel empowered as a female and how you can empower others.
Image: Pin by Alba Bla on f e m i n i s t a in 2023 | Feminism poster, Feminism art, Feminist quotes
