Once we claim ownership for our bodies, we end an entire industry based on profiting from our insecurities. An industry created to perpetuate unrealistic standards for the sole purpose to keep us occupied with nonsense instead of rising to our calling.

Once we dive into the love and knowledge of our bodies, we then demand partners who honour us as deeply as we honour ourselves. We decide the depth of our sexual experience by overcoming the anxiety of what our body may look like in the throes of pleasure. We gain the freedom to explode into unapologetic carnage and intimacy of self. We decide we are worthy of intoxicating orgasms—not a vehicle for someone else’s.

Once we own our bodies, we become comfortable showing up exactly as we are. We gain the ability to stand up for ourselves without fear or perception. We can speak to the inequality that we knowingly participate in; by abiding by rules that dim our light based on the shape of our breasts, the colour of our skin, the hair (or absence of) on our bodies, or the mere measurements of our skinsuits—as if that in some way defines our worth.

Once we own our body, we can own our voice. And when we unite our voices, we can eliminate the normalized acceptance of violence and oppression against us. We cannot be sold if we stop buying into the agreement that we are a commodity. We cannot be told what to do with our bodies if we refuse to comply. We can’t be measured by lacklustre descriptions, such as pretty or shamed with words such as slut.

When we love and respect ourselves unconditionally, we knit fabric of support for other women to do the same and this is how we regain our power. If we stop hating ourselves for everything that we are, if we recognized ingrained, self-sabotaging narratives, we will wake up to the truth—which is we already have the power.

This is how we overcome the patriarchy.

“More and more women are realizing that only collective strength and action will allow us to be free to fight for the kind of society that meets basic human needs.” ~ Roxanne Dunbar