As a Gen Xer, this term had a negative connotation for me until recently. The perception I had for most of my life was that female empowerment was some kind of anti-male movement.  And since “anti-male” never resonated with me, I was never drawn to anything associated with term “female empowerment”.

But lately I’ve come to redefine what this term means to me. The term “female empowerment” does, in a way, sum up for me the mission that I am on; to give women the knowledge of the power they possess, as well as an understanding of how to harness that power for themselves. In harnessing your own energy and power, you stop sacrificing yourself and your own progress in life to fit some type of gender norm/ideal.

You might even call it “self-empowerment” really.  But I just don’t think that most guys need as much help in this regard as women do.  Highlighting the “female” aspect calls attention to our needs, as women, specifically.

As women, most of us have been conditioned to give our power away to everyone else BUT ourselves.

We have been conditioned to believe that self-love is selfish and/or narcissistic.  And I guess it made sense that we believed this for so long given that we live within a patriarchal society, and have for thousands of years.  This social conditioning just keeps getting passed on from generation to generation.

To be empowered, for me, means that I do not feel forced to comply with certain standards of what a woman is “supposed to be” based on archaic norms.

I really don’t see this as anti-male at all.  In fact, most men that I’ve encountered through my journey in life have supported the women in their lives being fully empowered. They may not necessarily be fighting for it, but I’ve always felt supported by the men in my life, along my journey to being a fully empowered woman.

So, in an effort to bring to light all the wonderful male support that is out there in our world when it comes to female empowerment, I’m excited to bring to you the launch of the new “Man Champ” feature series on my Instagram page! Each month l will be showcasing one “Man Champ” of the month, along with their words of encouragement and support for the cause.

Please be on the lookout for that and more to come!  I can’t wait to get more men involved in the conversation as well.

I’d also love to connect with you on my favorite social media apps which are Instagram and Clubhouse!  You can find me @jennabanks.0