The seven tenets:

1 ) Women become more powerful as we grow older.

It is this power that scares the shit out of the world.  We have had a hand at our throats. We cannot breathe. No more.

2 ) Women are the leaders and changemakers of the world.

Just ask the Dali Lama (https://dalailamacenter.org/blog-post/western-women-can-come-rescue-world). You do not recognize us as leaders because we do not come violently into a space. We do not speak louder than anyone else. We do not believe our opinion, thoughts, or directives matter more than anyone else.  We believe that collaboration, inclusivity, and diversity of voices and stories will change the world. Don’t forget about love.

3 ) We have been bullied into letting the world, the status quo, and popular culture tell our stories. 

We have been complicit and bought these stories. We have spent hundreds of millions on breast implants, anti-aging lotions and potions, make-up that promises youth, and the latest and greatest outfit, purse, and shoes. No more. We will tell our stories and take our power back. We will use our money to vote.

4 ) We are at THE crossroad.  

We are at the intersection of our first half and the rest of our lives. We have been given two choices: to buy the story that once our children are grown, once we are let go from our 30-year career, once we cannot reproduce, once there are lines on our faces and things droop, we should continue down the road and die; or rise up and continue to learn, grow, and howl.

5 ) We are more than perky breasts, unlined skin, or wearing size two skirts and stilettos.  

We give a fuck. We are the heart and soul of OUR world.  Hear us roar.

6 ) Dear world, stop looking at our outsides. Go inward. 

Like an apple, it is not the skin or meat of the apple that are crucial, it is the core where seeds are found, where orchards grow.  

7 ) We are enraged. 

You have silenced us, and we are not the only ones. You have told the stories of black men, Native American women, Asians, and the poor.  You have created a world of fear and hate.  We disrupt these stories.  Rest assured; we will not use your traditional weapons. We will not censure, silence, or promote the stories you tell. Instead, we will empower women of a certain age to tell our own stories.  And by doing so, we HOPE others will rebel.

ONWARD!

Mission: We resist the stories they sell about us by telling our own.

We value:

  • Love. We know love transforms ourselves, each other, and the world. First up, practice self-love.
  • Authenticity. Be real.
  • Courage.  Be the heroine of your story.
  • Empathy. Ah, this could be the way we change the world. If we begin to understand and share the feelings of another (through our stories), we can walk in their shoes.
  • Sense of humor

We believe our age is not an ending but a beginning.  

We believe in order to live our best and most transformed lives we must find our purpose, the reason we were put on this earth, and then DO IT!

We believe we need to love ourselves first.  We must treat ourselves as if we are the most important person in the world. The truth is we are (you are, too)!

We hope that Representation Rebellion can serve as an archetype for other rebellions.