Yesterday at CoOfWomen insp!re’16 camp (www.coofwomen.biz) I spoke about worldwomen17 and was deluged with interest from women in attending, or better put, in being part of the movement. 

And I do see this as a movement.

It is not just about women of course, but it is about women who are at the forefront of responding to a change in the energies in the world.  It seems so obvious and in a decade we are going to wonder why it took us so long to understand that things that we previously thought were separate like “business” and “charity” are not separate at all.  They need to be integrated because if they aren’t integrated we are not truly human. 

This energy shift is palpable to anybody who pays attention.  Obviously at CoOfWomen, which is an organisation for female entrepreneurs, you are going to have a greater proportion of people who see possibilities and are willing to step out in that direction.  But even the largest of corporates in our country are starting to look at things differently and do things differently.

This week further corporates confirmed their support by sending women to worldwomen17. This week it was Spark New Zealand and KPMG.  They join Fletcher Building, who were first on board, Air New Zealand, Westpac, AIA and Bauer NEXT.

When I grew up women that I saw portrayed positively in the media were often dead and were almost always what I would call “glamorous victims”.  Think Marilyn Monroe, think Princess Diana, think even Amelia Earhart.  In her time you didn’t get more intrepid than flying around the world but she too ultimately was portrayed as a “glamorous victim”.  (Just on Amelia Earhart, now I am no aviator but I was stunned to read recently there really wasn’t a mystery of whether she went down in the water or landed on the island, she was apparently sending out transmissions about her location for several days.)

We live in a time when there are starting to be women admired globally who are clearly not glamorous victims.  Think Beyoncé, think Michelle Obama, think Serena Williams.  Women who have their own Agency, their own inner zingyness and who are not controlled in any way.  The sheer authenticity of the way they are living their life rings true. 

Western women have awesome potential and a tremendous responsibility.  We are not controlled. We have freedom, we have affluence, and through technology we have the greatest ability to claim our voice and use it individually and collectively than any group of women has ever had.

Perhaps because of the unprecedented nature of the opportunity that we have to shape the world there is a form of control.  It is called social control.  The more we see ourselves as inadequate, as not enough, the more that we will stay small. 

This past decade in particular has had an extreme focus on the physical attributes of women sometimes masquerading as being about health. (Botox, fillers, and now we’ve got the nip and tuck downstairs!  You have to ask why?!)

 During the time that my patron Saint lived, Saint Teresa of Avila, the populace was focussed on the purification of their souls, an equally bad obsession taken to extremes. Particularly when one is judging others.

It’s time for us individually and collectively to simply be audacious.