I Am Woman
October 7, 2024
Writer: Claudia Hurst
Editor: Liv Bennis
My grandmother’s signature song is “I Am Woman” by Helen Reddy. My childhood is filled with memories of her dancing around the kitchen as she cooked and sang the lyrics, “I am woman, hear me roar”. If I close my eyes I can hear her saying, “Doesn’t this song just make you want to dance?”. While I do enjoy the occasional dance break to a soft pop anthem, this song is meaningful to me because of how I see my grandmother’s wisdom through its message.
I have always known my DeDell to be fiercely independent. A single woman with deep red lipstick who is always exploring new ways to improve herself - the new recipes she conquers every week, the years she spent in night school Spanish classes to expand her knowledge, and the ways she invests herself in the interests of each of her loved ones. She finds the greatest connections with those who share her desire to constantly absorb more life around them, “I am woman, watch me grow”, and grow she does.
I would consider today's women to be the most empowered female generation in history. While DeDell was an anomaly as a full-time professional and mother, this is now a common practice. Modern women have demonstrated that success extends far beyond society’s expectations of the female role as a housewife and mother. Still, there remains immense pressure for women to define their path based on the prospect of companionship. While relationships are important parts of each of our lives, personal growth has become distorted and viewed as a finite journey to make yourself more available to someone new.
Too often we see our end goal as intimacy and our development and maturation as the catalyst to get there. “Having it all” has become limited to having the one thing that we believe will connect us to the rest of our happiness.
This must be reframed. “Such a long, long way to go.”
Ambition for life should not be rooted in the desire for fulfilling relationships. Our paths should instead be defined by the accumulation of lessons, knowledge, newfound passions, and characters that we allure as we go. “Look how much I’ve gained, if I have to, I can do anything”.
When I think of the greatest lesson that my grandmother has taught me it is that on each of our individual journeys, there is not an end goal at all. Relationships of all degrees will constantly be a centerpiece of our lives, but DeDell and Reddy empower us to appreciate all of the other influences that compose our identities, too.
“I am invincible. I am strong. I am woman. I am woman.”
Image: Emma Wang
