We are so different, yet we are all women

We have a great start here ladies. I don't know very much about most of you, and I know you don't know much about me. I do know we are geographically dispersed and that we come from different backgrounds and age groups. That much was by design. There are still a handful of invitations pending, but in the meantime I thought it would be nice for each of us to share a little about who we, where we are from and what drives us (our passions, interests, etc.).

I am 34 years old, I have four children, live in the DC area in the United States, and I just started a small business doing design/layout work and writing services.

I grew up in the Midwest, married at 16 years old, and had my first child by the time I was 18. I was raised in a very conservative home and went to a very conservative church. Somehow in the midst of all of this, I still had a strong will and couldn't accept the idea that men were any better than me just because I was a female.

My husband was not the type that would try to rule my life, though parts of the patriarchal system did find its way into him as much as it did me. We both stayed very true to our religious roots by serving in our church, serving as missionaries, and by starting our own church. In time though, we both couldn't reconcile our conscience with certain teachings in the bible, so we have moved away from fundamental christianity. I don't really claim to be anything right now, but my spiritual journey is long from over.

In the process of this spiritual evolution, I realized how much christianity, judaism, and islam oppresses women. I went back to school when the kids were all out of the house and started seeing the world through the eyes of a woman with lots of potential - instead of a slave expected to take care of her lord and his kids. Now I have a world of possibilities just waiting for me and I want to share this world with as many women as possible. That is why I started my site, newsparade.com, and the reason for this blog.

I'd love to hear something from each of you as well. For this little adventure be sure to post your thoughts as a new post (using your blogger dashboard) and not as just a comment to this one, that way your story is on the home page for all to easily read. Feel free to share as much or as little about yourself as you want.

For future reference, be sure to post your thoughts, articles, essays, or whatever on women's issues/interests as frequently as you want and share your comments on the posts from our other participants. We are here to support and challenge each other and other women. There is no pressure to be anything except yourself and to do what makes you feel comfortable. We are the ones who decide how to mold this blog, and with all of our great minds, I can see this going in a million wonderful directions.

Regards,
Stella