Skip to main content

Feminine side (International Women's Day)

In my life my disability has put me in the unique position where 90% of my best friends are women. So unlike most of my male counterparts I believe I'm more aware of the skills, abilities and just general awesomeness of the opposite sex.

I have been lucky enough to know many women that have ruled the world of academia.

I also know many successful female police officers and a number of army officers.

I have a childhood friend who has been a part of the national squad for the Australian Olympic Basketball Team.

I am also lucky to have two colleagues, Ingrid and Tina, who are the best disability advocates I have known in my 36 years. Any success I have had in the world of advocacy is due to the fact that I have modelled my career on their work.

Now let's not forget the hundreds of women who have been my personal support workers, therapists, nurses, and teachers who have helped make me the man I am today.

So now in honour of every amazing woman in this world I have penned the following poem to remind people of the importance of the feminine side.


Feminine Side

There is a power in this world that cannot and should not be denied: the power of the feminine side.
A woman is about more than how they look or even how good they can cook. 
As an alpha male I know half the time I would fail if not for an alpha female. 
I'm not too proud to decree that my lovely, beautiful and amazing wife is smarter than me. 

The world owes a great scientific legacy to the wonder that was Madam Curie. 
Frida Kahlo gave the world her genius and her heart in her every brush stroke and completed piece of her art. 
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the trailblazing RBG brought the world closer to sexual equality. 
In times of crisis many people would break but let us never forget the resistance fighter Nancy Wake. 

Women are not something to be dismissed; without them you and I would not exist. 
Females make up 51% of the world's population and as a result they deserve just as much adulation. 
Men and women are like yin and yang, without one there cannot be the other so for every sister you need to be her brother. 
There is a power in this world that cannot and should not be denied; let's not forget the power of the feminine side.


International Women's Day 2019 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sexuality Through the Ages

 It is twenty years this year since I was first approached by the School of Occupational Therapy to speak on the topic of transition to adulthood, disability, and sexuality. Since that time I have expanded to deliver disability education across Australia and yet disability and sexuality is still the most common topic I get asked to speak on.  With this in mind I am going to shock you all by saying I wish I had never had to speak on the topic. Sexuality is such a fundamental part of life that from the teenage years till death it should be assumed that anyone engaged in helping a human being with the occupation of life should automatically include the topic of sexuality.  Society has conflicting views when it comes to talking about and expressing sexuality. Add the word disability into the mix and people tend to run away or shut their eyes.  I started my sexual life like all young people by going through puberty. In the mid-nineties the environmental factors and condit...

Lights! Camera! Rhyme Time!

Chris Van Ingen and William McInnes on set of Rhyme Time Photo credit: Charlie Kinross  For regular readers of this blog it is no secret that acting is my life, and my life is acting. I can now share with you a joyful experience I had shooting a film called Rhyme Time . Rhyme Time  is a thought provoking, sweet comedy about an old school librarian coming to terms with an ever changing modern world.  Throughout my career I have been lucky enough to be billed alongside great casts such as Rachel Griffiths, Claudia Karvan, and Matt Nable to name a few.  Rhyme Time continues my blessed luck working with Australian legends such as William McInnes from Blue Heelers , Sea Change , and NCIS Sydney fame. William is joined by Emily Havea best known for her work in Wentworth . The cast was rounded out by an amazing group of adorable and rambunctious children that completely stole the show and made the final act of the film one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. Lastly I ha...

Circle of Life or Circle of Tech

 I have written extensively about how assistive technology helps me be independent. In blog posts such as More Than a Test Drive and Tony Stark's House (an Assistive Technology Dream) . My disability has turned the circle of life into a circle of tech.  Every few years I have to go through the assistive technology merry go round because all of my equipment seems to break down at the same time.  I am in the process of applying for a new hoist and sling, shower commode chair, bed, front door opener, and new abductor cushion.  I also am aware in the not too distant future I will have to attempt to try and get a new wheelchair. Every time I have to apply for a new piece of equipment my therapists and I have to make the case as to why that particular piece of equipment is 'reasonable and necessary'.  The frustrating thing about this is, even though it might be clear that I need a piece of equipment, one or two words in the funding form can make a difference on wheth...