Still figuring it out

Since I was just on the topic of finding myself yesterday, thought I'd share with you a video which I've actually seen previously, but thought it'd be pretty apt to feature it here. 

If you don't know who she is, you should go read her blog, Style Rookie. She started blogging in 2008 at age 11. She was invited to New York Fashion Week at age 13. Currently she's the editor-in-chief of her own online magazine, Rookie. 

I have always loved reading and I love listening to different individual's opinions on everything and anything. And I absolutely enjoy her perception on different aspects of popular culture. Do read, do read. 

I have transcript-ed a portion of her talk; the parts that I found really thought-provoking or inspiring. 

"So I think the question of what makes a strong female character often goes misinterpreted, and instead we get these 2 dimensional super women who maybe have one quality that’s played up a lot like, you know, a Catwoman type, or she, like, plays her sexuality up a lot, and its seen as power. But they’re not strong characters who happen to be female, they’re completely flat, and they’re basically cardboard characters. The problem with this is then people expect women to be that easy to understand, and women are mad at themselves for not being that simple. When in actuality, women are complicated. Women are multi-faceted. Not because women are crazy, but because people are crazy and women happen to be people.

So, the flaws are the key. I’m not the first person to say this. What makes a strong female character is a character who has weaknesses, who has flaws, who is maybe not immediately likeable, but eventually relatable.

..one thing that can be very alienating about a misconception of feminism is that girls then think that to be a feminist, they have to live up to, you know, being perfectly consistent in your beliefs, never being insecure, never having doubt, having all of the answers. And this is not true, and actually reconciling all the contradictions I was feeling became easier once I understood that feminism was not a rulebook, but a discussion, a conversation, a process."

Do let me know what you feel :)