Crush the patriarchy
I said something today that immediately after felt…embarrassing.
I attended a Pure Barre weightlifting class this morning.
It’s definitely been a journey over the past 12 years, birthing 3 children and learning to love my transformed, post-birth 3x bod.
I absolutely believe this body is powerful. I will always cherish the experience of birthing three babies, each one it’s own unique process.
As I gathered my weights this morning, I asked some version of this question to the teacher, Lauren:
“If I choose a really heavy weight, will it make me bulky?”
Her quick response was, “Oh noooo, not at all, that’s completely untrue. It WILL help you crush the patriarchy though!”
She gave me a reassuring smile and then kept moving, welcoming more women into class and gathering their weights.
I laughed and went ahead and grabbed the heavier weight thinking, hell yeah I’ll take the biggest one you’ve got then.
I thought about her quick-witted response to my embarrassing reflection of internalized patriarchy for the rest of the class. I watched myself in the mirror building my muscles stronger. I looked around at the other 15 women in the room looking fierce and determined. Not giving up.
I’m sure most of them were probably thinking, “Ok, just 15 more seconds, I’ve got this…”
But I imagined we were all building our fight-the-patriarchy muscles together. The class felt powerful not only physically as we strengthened our arms, legs, and core… it felt powerful mentally and emotionally too. I got a boost of stamina to face the world’s bullshit.
We are determined, fierce, strong…and only momentarily shaken when Internalized Patriarchy sneaks out of our mouths.
If any of you hear me ask a question like this again, you are welcome to give me a loving smack on the forehead. Or tell me kindly:
“hey love, your internalized patriarchy is showing.”
Kind of like in the Barbie movie when the women join together and remind each other of their true power and value as women – we have to break through the trance of patriarchal, sexist conditioning.
Thank you Lauren for your spot on response.
May we all be inspired by each other’s strength and grow muscles for fighting the patriarchy together.
With Pure Barre teacher, Lauren Bingler, post-class.
Photo at the top features participants from the Embodied Intuition Retreat! There are still spots available for this year’s retreat weekend, May 17-19, 2024.