Mai Atef 
Women have been a beacon of strength, empowerment and influence since the beginning of time, whether or not their communities chose to respect or admit it. We thankfully live now in a world where strong women’s voices are being heard. We might not be exactly where we want to be yet, but we’re on the path and it’s a good chance for many of us to bring out the best they can and start seeing how we can make a positive impact on society through empowering other women and young girls. Many girls at a young age want to learn about becoming a strong woman and how they can take the necessary steps for women's empowerment, which is refreshing and hopeful. So let’s hope that together we can make an immense impact and change society's flawed ways for the future of our kids.
How to become a strong empowering woman in your community:
1. Love yourself before anything else
A lot of women grew up feeling oppressed and diminished by their community and so self love can easily become an issue. It is so important to work on loving, understanding, accepting, and putting yourself and your well being first so you can be able to give back.
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2. Be honest and open
Being open and honest with yourself can be really empowering and can help with how you communicate with others. It’s really inspiring to meet women that don’t shy away from who they are and open minded and raw in their conversations and debates. Being open-minded doesn’t mean you can’t hold onto your beliefs and principles with confidence and sincerity, it just means you’re open to talking about things, listening to others and re-evaluating your thoughts.
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3. An interest in learning
Widening your knowledge horizon can be really helpful when you’re trying to make an impact or change. It allows your thoughts and communication to be diverse and well rounded. It will also help you reach better conclusions and solutions with constructive communication. It can also be a huge source of inspiration and strength for many women in society.
4. Work for your happiness and your life
Your peace of mind and happiness should always be your priority. You will feel a lot more empowered and strong when you’ve been working on yourself and the life you want to live. Help yourself grow and become better. Learn and work on being better at the things that make you feel happy, inspired and empowered.
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5. Self-confidence
Self-confidence is one of the most important qualities that can really help make a difference within yourself and the impact you’re trying to make. Self-confidence makes you beautiful, and you should never have to hide to make up for someone else’s egoo or insecurities. Be kind, but also be confident. It takes a lot of hard work and practice, but only you can develop your own self-confidence and strength and you are much more capable than you think you are. Image the girls and women in your life looking up to that and believing they can have it as well.
6. Helping women around you
We can all give a helping hand in one way or another. Like by being a guide to those around you in a certain way or sharing your personal experience so you can inspire and empower them. It is a blessing to be able to support and empower the women around you. So, if you’re passionate about that, there are a million ways you can contribute to helping women in your society and community, regardless of their age or upbringing.
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7. Work on blocking out the negativity
We can’t change everyone we’re exposed to, but we can learn to change how they affect us and we can learn to create shields and boundaries to protect ourselves from any hate, negative or toxic behavior coming our way. Most people are exposed to a lot of negativity and oppressive stigmas since childhood that can affect them. Work on creating a protective barrier and finding the strength within to not let these statements or judgements affect you. Have a conversation with yourself: “This is not about me, this is about them. This says more about them than it does about me. I know who I am and what I’m capable of.” A positive personality can be very influential to those around it.
8. Supporting women in the workforce
Supporting women's work in society has many forms, from running small businesses for women to encouraging women to work and teaching them so they can be independent. When we talk about support here, we don’t only mean emotionally, which is important, but also financially if you’re able to. That can happen through participation or making donations for the success of female run businesses or places that support and employ women fairly.
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9. Stand up for women's rights
Defending women's rights, talking about them and raising children who understand and support them is one of the important things that can eventually make an impact on society and people’s lives. Your contribution can be through writing, using a platform to speak or like we mentioned just raising generations with the right morals and education when it comes to equality and women’s rights. You could also join institutions and NGO’s that defend, do important work and advocate for women’s rights in societies.
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10. Supporting women’s rights organizations in your community
Another influential thing to do is, like we mentioned above, supporting important women empowerment organizations in your community, either by providing donations or giving them some of your time in order to help them reach as many people and make as much change as possible.
Main Image Credits: Instagram @marta__sierra
