In the last sixty years, the world’s culture has shifted, and not for the better. For decades, women have fought for equal rights. It’s a fight that still continues to this day. So why have we willingly given away so much of our power?

What I’m talking about is the shift of women from being people to being objects.

Don’t believe me? How much time do you spend making yourself beautiful each morning? How much money do you spend trying to make yourself even more beautiful–things like clothes, makeup, beauty creams and the list goes on and on (guilty of all of the above). How much money is spent every year on porn?

How much thought do you put into loosing weight instead of being strong (guilty, but I’m working on it)?

How much time do you spend hating your imperfections instead of valuing your strengths (guilty, but working on it).

How much energy do you spend worrying about where you are on the “pretty pecking order” (more so in high school)?

Listen to the above video. And realize that you are more than an object. You are a person who deserves love and respect, and gaining that respect starts with loving and respecting yourself.

I bring all this up because the character in my current work in progress (Summer Queen) struggles with this. She’s been trained to seduce men, and through the book she begins to realize that using her body to trick others into getting what she wants has pretty devastating effects (also, try pulling off that theme while keeping it strictly PG-13. I’m gonna have to cut some scenes).