Happy New Year, Prosers! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and this finds you safe and healthy! 2020 was a tumultuous year for many and it was very grim, to say the least. Thank you God, that the year is now behind us. We will advance into 2021 with hope, positivity, prayer and unity. I will continue to do my part by providing you with inspiration and encouragement to get you through another year.

Today, I would like to discuss feminism. I hope this will spark a healthy, respectful debate among my followers and maybe even slightly redefine how feminism is viewed in 2021. It is a topic that I have spent the past several months researching and it has lead me to watch several documentaries on feminism (not a hardship since I am a renowned documentary fanatic). I can highly recommend the documentaries Not Done: Women Remaking America and Gloria: In Her Own Words. If you are not predisposed to watching documentaries, then I can recommend the movie Bombshell or the tv series Mrs. America; both are packed with excellent acting and feminist storylines and are equally enjoyable.

When I was married, I honestly did not and could not understand feminism. I rather despised it if I am to be truthful. I would see movies, listen to news reports and watch feminist documentaries and think to myself, how sad that you want to be like a man. Isn’t it enough to be a woman? Isn’t it enough to be a mother? I even went as far as to believe that women would be a lot better off if we returned to the days of being able to just stay at home and raise our children. I was extremely resentful of the pressure placed upon me to be a career woman, wife and mother with the expectation of doing them all simultaneously without one suffering for the other. I think on some level I was jealous of feminists since they exerted the courage I failed to exert in my own life by following my own independent dreams. How disillusioned, foolish and blind I was, but I am happy I had that mindset since it allowed room for growth. As we all know, growth is a topic of regular discussion in my blog; so much so, it finds its way into my fictional material as well.

What I did not realize at the time and not until more recently, is that I was a broken woman who had identity issues. If I could not identify with self, how could I ever hope to identify with the suffrage of other women? After my divorce, I remained somewhat in a broken state desperately searching for that illusion of security and protection. It was not a therapist that brought me to my current reality, but actually my spirituality and renewal of self love that restored the Mara that graduated from high school as a true empowered woman with ambitions, focus and discipline.

Feminism is not about wanting to be a man and that was a grave misunderstanding on my part. Feminism is knowing your worth and demanding that worth be acknowledged, respected and rightfully compensated. Feminism says yes, I know I am a woman but if my brain power matches yours or surpasses it, then I should be rightfully compensated. The sad thing is, equality is viewed as a threat to our male dominated society, and unfortunately, we have many men who want to suppress women for fear our dominance will overtake their own. And let’s face it, there have been women who have actively worked to emasculate men which continues to stroke the fires of the war that has raged between the sexes for decades.

Now that I am inspired and motivated by strong woman who are brave enough to forge their own path, I embrace feminism more. I would like men to see us as their equal, but not in the way of actually doing things that are only meant for a man. There are just some things we are not conditioned for and that are better left to the male species. Feminism says I do not walk behind you, I do not walk in front of you, I walk beside you; but I only will walk beside you if their is partnership, otherwise I leave you in my dust. Feminism says a man compliments me, he does not make or break me and marriage is not the end all be all. Feminism says I too have a dream, I too should have the same opportunities as you and I too should be celebrated for the very same things that a man is celebrated for.

Do I call myself a feminist? If your definition meets the definition here, then yes, I proudly proclaim feminism. It is our time to shine. The ignorance in my youth held me back from my greatness. Every year that passes since my renewal of self puts me that much closer to the greatness I am destined for and that God has promised. I watch my daughter, newly graduated, flourishing in her college studies, in her assistant manager position at the tender age of 18 and I am so proud of her courage to forge ahead in her destiny without distraction. She is doing everything I initially set out to do at her age and everything that I have prayed for her and she is truly shining! I watch my son’s pride in his sister for who she is, what all she is accomplishing and I see snippets of it motivating him as well. This is what feminism can do for our society; we can motivate each other, work together as a team and build something amazing with one another if we would simply embrace equality and appreciation for one another.

To the men who have ridiculed the Me Too movement, feminism, and our new Vice President Elect Kamala Harris, I say this – find your level of acceptance and make peace with the greatness of women. Just as my daughter has been motivating my son, if we all correctly embrace feminism, we can be true motivating factors for one another. So please stop diminishing our hardships. Please stop belittling our movements and trying to destroy our causes. Please stop disrespecting women, stop with the unrealistic expectations and stop trying to suppress us.

To my female counterparts – We DO NOT have to act like nor think like a man (sorry Steve Harvey). We can watch men and they can watch us and we can be mentors and inspirations for one another. We can share knowledge, learn from each other and combine our expertise to build great relationships that spawn insurmountable empires. As women, let’s embrace our natural emotions and correctly channel them in a way that sparks success and equilibrium in all that we do. I have been mentored by many male bosses who viewed me as an asset and encouraged me to be a strong, feminine woman in the work place. No man on this earth can nor should allow you to feel any type of way about who you are as a woman. It is called self worth, you need to consider yourself worthy. And when you are not considered worthy, you will know that is not the right place for you.

This is a time of restoration which means there is a need for ingenuity. The ways of the past will no longer serve us. So we have to come up with new and inventive ways to bring back America’s greatness, which means there is a plethora of opportunity to bring into fruition the desires of all our ambitions collectively. Use this time to dig deep and ask yourself, males and females alike, what do you truly wish to accomplish this year?

I celebrate the woman who celebrate one another and lift each other up. I celebrate the men who have our back and cherish our presence on this earth. My heart and prayers go out to the woman who feel they must sabotage another gifted woman in order to shine; this equally goes for you insecure men who practice the same toxic manipulations. When your success is built at the expense of someone else, your foundation will surely crumble. Here is to new horizons and unprecedented times. Keep forging ahead my Sisters! The world is truly our oyster.

Until next time,

Mara Prose

COMING 2021 – Book 2 of The Davenports

COMING 2022