It Takes a Backbone

by LindsayRae | Jan 19, 2017 | Uncategorized

One thing is for sure and that is the fact that being a woman requires having a strong backbone. We live in a society where everyone tells us what we should be, how we should look, what we should be doing, how we should feel, and if we don’t have a backbone, it becomes nearly impossible to not fall into all of these woulds, shoulds and coulds.

I find myself having to have daily conversations with myself where I am reminding myself that I am in fact an independent woman, and just because something I might want in life isn’t what all of the magazines tell me that I should want, doesn’t mean that it is wrong. It has taken me growing a strong backbone to understand that it is ok to stand up for the things that make me “me.” It has taken a strong backbone to learn to tell my haters that yes, I am in fact a woman, but I am ALSO A CEO and a wife, and a mom, and a fucking badass.

Society says I should be quiet, mild mannered, stand slightly behind my husband. Well I say fuck society. I am loud, I have bight-ass pink hair right now because I want it and love it and I don’t ever stand behind my husband. In fact I stand right next to him. Even. Equal. This is what it means to me to have a backbone. It means that every day I get up and I fight to create something for myself that men before me have told me would be “just a hobby, and you will burn out and quit soon.” It means that I take risks. It means that I stand tall anchored by my desires to go after what I want in life.

What some might see as my weakness, I see as vulnerability, and there is far more strength in vulnerability than there will ever be in hiding who you are and what you feel. This is why we find such strength in grown men who are not afraid to cry. It takes a backbone to be vulnerable. It takes a backbone to be transparent. It takes a backbone to say I am me and I refuse to settle into anything less than that because your magazines and fathers told you that is how a woman should be.

It takes a backbone to strip down both literally and figuratively in front of a camera. But it takes even more strength than that to be able to look at yourself, in your most vulnerable form, and see the strength in who you are as a woman. It takes a backbone to be able to share your art to inspire others. It takes a backbone to be able to fall in love with yourself when everything in this world conspires against you being able to do just that.