Check out the full text
On her personal Tumblr, Halestorm guitarist Lzzy Hale wrote a lengthy post about the importance and role of women in society and in rock music, in honor of Women's Month. Check out her full post below:
"In honor of Women's History Month, I would like to take a moment to thank the women who came before me, the women who are by my side, and those who will carry the torch in the future.".
I've been in Halestorm for almost 20 years. If it weren't for the founding mothers of Rock n' Roll who came before me, I might not be where I am today. They showed me that it was possible, that even with everything against you and obstacles in your path, you can achieve your dreams. They didn't give up, they didn't quit, they weren't intimidated. They were a powerful, inspiring, and empowering force that allowed me to pursue my dream.
This is a reminder, women, of how important it is that we encourage each other. We have to be role models, we have to show our female colleagues that society's definition of "Woman" is false. Being a woman is not an idea of what a woman should be. We are the sum of many women who were courageous enough to take risks, innovate, stand out, and be themselves, without regrets. All the great women in history were not those who followed rules and kept their eyes on the ground. No, all the great women were great thinkers, inventors, artists, and leaders who broke free, who swam against the current.
As girls, we learn from childhood that beauty is our priority. We play with dolls we'll never look like, we have makeup kits, and we wear adhesive earrings, and glitter, and pink. We wear dresses we can't get dirty, we need to be perfect, we need to be seen and not heard. We learn that being beautiful is the same as being accepted, and being loved.
We learn as young girls that the world is a scary place, that we must marry and settle down or we will die alone. And we need to have children before it's too late, because the ticking time bomb that is our body will explode. And we need products! Products to grow hair, smooth skin, lose fat, enhance lips, grow breasts, erase scars and stretch marks, increase or decrease the size of our buttocks… Because without these things we are not desirable and do not deserve love.
When we start to grow up and question things, when we discover ourselves as women, everything that made us happy is somehow wrong. They say, 'Be independent, but know your place. Make money, but not too much. Be smart, but not too smart. Be strong, but not too strong, otherwise you'll be a cow. If you like sex, you're a slut; if you like to drink, you're flashy; if you cut your hair short, you're a lesbian; and if you like rock and metal, you're on the road to hell.' We are told that to be a woman you have to be something impossible, and because society's vision of women is something so unattainable, inevitably every woman loses.
Before I continue, I need to make it clear that this post isn't about double standards. It's not about men versus women, because boys also learn a lot of crazy things about what it means to be 'a man'. This post is about the history of women, battling social expectations, and the evolution of women in the future.
I step onto my little platform. As a woman, I have proudly fought to do what I love every day, I am proof of what is possible, and I am in the rare position to encourage and empower.
So, let's empower, encourage, and teach our girls to be strong, intelligent, independent, inquisitive, tolerant, to be friends, to have passions, and to dream. Let's show them that beauty lies in their individuality and in doing things that truly make them happy. Let's wear sizes that fit us instead of trying to fit into the standards society tells us we should fit into. Let's get dirty, climb trees, be artists, mechanics, scientists, rock stars, and presidents. Let's stop listening to all the things we should be and let's be who we are.
We are women.
With love,
Lzzy.