Throughout history, women have been at the center of debates and often destructive passions. Targeted, used, subjected, and blamed for many ills, over the centuries and especially in recent decades, women have alternated between being branded as witches, muses, and warriors—perhaps the most important, too. Today, women resolutely seek to be free and independent in their choices. Among them stands the mother, proud and unyielding. Fulfilled, radiant, enveloped with a natural confidence and serenity serving as armor, she moves forward, facing obstacles one by one and savoring life's joys when they arise. Because her greatest power lies within herself. She is the embodiment of empowerment. She is Herself, at last.
Empowerment, n., but a feminine quality
Difficult to pronounce, the word empowerment is equally challenging to explain. More than a word with a single definition, empowerment is a concept, a life philosophy, a feeling.
The Larousse dictionary offers “greater autonomy” as a translation. In reality, that is only a faint reflection of what empowerment truly is. Another dictionary provides a more complete definition, mentioning liberation, full rights, and social, moral, and intellectual emancipation. In our view, this framework still lacks a personal dimension—a deep inner power.
| According to Élhée, empowerment comes down to a true and complete taking of control by the woman over who she is, over her life—both personal and professional—which is achieved through deep inner work, starting first with the acceptance of who she is and the strengths that flow from it; her true sacred power. |
Empowerment and women around the world
From a societal perspective, women—and other minorities along with them—are still in great need of the empowerment that comes with taking power. This includes topics like girls who do not have access to education, social requirements, gender equality, and gender stereotypes. Each of these obstacles weakens women, their achievements, and their futures. Empowerment develops to help counteract these barriers, either independently or alongside outside assistance.
Being a mother and claiming your sacred power
If empowerment is an inner realization, the process can also occur through transmission, that of a mother to her child.
History shows the ambivalence around woman as mother quite well. Goddess of the sacred feminine due to her power of creation, maternity has also long been described as the greatest state of vulnerability and submission for women.
However, things are changing. Thanks to empowerment, the modern world and the future are gradually agreeing on a new vision of motherhood—or rather, several new visions. Little by little, a more diverse experience of motherhood is emerging and moving toward acceptance. Through the evolution of empowerment, every mother can be the mom, the stay-at-home mom, the working mother, or even the unexpected mother she wants to be. Empowerment encourages mothers to have confidence in themselves and accept themselves, balancing tradition and modernity, leading to an instinctive and majestic form of motherhood.
On International Women’s Rights Day, Élhée, as a feminine and maternal company if ever there was one, wanted to pay tribute to all mothers—those new to the journey, those who embody it every day, and all others who fulfill this role in their own way, however they choose to live it. There are 1,001 ways, and doubtless more, to be a mother for your children.
- Being a mother is starting fertility treatments, maybe trying several times, and finally getting pregnant naturally after a long struggle.
- Being a mother is finding out you are pregnant despite using contraception and deciding to welcome this new child with happiness.
- Being a mother is bringing a child into the world naturally or via cesarean section, choosing an unmedicated childbirth or receiving an epidural.
- Being a mother means breastfeeding your baby, giving them infant formula and using a bottle, or choosing combination feeding.
- Being a mother means enduring complications, stress, and high-risk pregnancy monitoring, and sometimes spending exhausting weeks in a neonatal intensive care and neonatal unit.
- Being a mother means staying awake throughout the night to care for your sick child.
- Being a mother is returning to work full-time or part-time and feeling strongly that it is the right thing for both you and your baby.
- Being a mother is making the choice to stay at home to raise your child and finding fulfillment in that as well.
- Being a mother means sharing household chores equally with your partner, or entrusting them with most of the work while you manage the family finances.
- Being a mother is also experiencing heartbreak or a conflict over child custody.
- Being a mother is relying on others when needed, having the courage to place your child for adoption to offer them a better future, or feeding your child with milk from an anonymous donor.
- Being a mother does not mean you need to be perfect, nor that you must fit one stereotype or another; above all, being a mother means being yourself and doing things in a way that matches who you are, unapologetically—revealing the sacred power of your personality.
Being a mother, above all, means being a woman, because to be happy is to be yourself, because to teach is first to know yourself, so that you can set an example for your children—a mother who is present and generous but also aware of her own needs and balance as a person, for everyone’s well-being.
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As adeeply feminine company founded by a mother in an almost entirely male industry, Élhée pays close attention to societal developments, especially those concerning mothers and their children. On this global day of recognition and celebration, we wanted to make our small contribution, too! |
