As a female-founded company, milk + honey strongly supports gender equality. We celebrate International Women’s Day by looking to our very own employees’ stories of inspiration. Vianey Valenzuela, milk + honey Lead Reservationist, shares what this day means to her.
By: Vianey Valenzuela, milk + honey Lead Reservationist
The idea of gender equality began at an early age for me. As the only girl of four children raised by a single mother, I constantly questioned why I was scolded for behaving like my brothers. It baffled me each time my mother would wag her finger at me for wanting to do what the boys would do. Citing my gender as the only reason, I was told I could not spend all day riding my bike through the neighborhood or climbing trees in a dress. My mother supported a household by herself with two jobs that totaled 90+ hours a week — all while raising four children. Still, she shared the idea that for some unexplained reason my brothers had the capability to do more than I could.
I do not blame her for trying to teach me what her mother taught her. It just never sat right with me. Once I gave birth to my own daughter I finally connected the dots as to why gender parity was so important. I refuse to plant the seed of doubt in my daughter’s conscience — to make her questions her potential because of gender roles that she did not sign up for. My most important press for progress is her.
I push for progression every time I explain that she’s allowed to choose blue as her favorite color or why her boy cousin is allowed to choose the pink candy. I push for progression every time I support her wanting a toy car instead of a doll. And I push for progression every time my daughter gets her pretty dress muddy from being outside all afternoon. My daughter is the change I want to see in the world. To me, progress starts at home, where the mind is molded and where ideas are inherited.
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