You know, I thought my dream was to live in a world where every woman knew their voice could make a difference. And yes, this is still a dream of mine, however, it’s not enough. The use of the word “voice” does not do justice for what I mean. When I looked up the word voice in the dictionary the definition was:
voice
/vois/
noun: voice; plural noun: voices
the sound produced in a person's larynx and uttered through the mouth, as speech or song.
a particular opinion or attitude expressed.
I also looked into the definition of speak:
speak
/spēk/
verb: speak; 3rd person present: speaks; past tense: spoke; gerund or present participle: speaking; past participle: spoken
say something in order to convey information, an opinion, or a feeling.
talk to in order to reprove or advise.
“Sound”, “advise”, inform these descriptions to me don’t sound like they actually create change. I’m not saying never, because sometimes maybe that’s all it takes, but it’s rare. My point is not to take away from the power of speaking up because if you know me I believe whole heartedly in this superpower, however, it’s not everything.
The thing is, we all have a voice. And that voice can speak volumes to groundbreaking change and truth. Everyone has the opportunity and in my opinion, a sort of obligation to respectfully speak out about injustice. But these sounds produced and the words on a page at the end of the day always have the chance of being deleted or forgotten about. Your voice is only a useful tool if you decide to back it up with action.
Action:
noun: action; plural noun: actions
1. the fact or process of doing something, typically to achieve an aim."he vowed to take tougher action against persistent offenders"
If you’re going to “achieve an aim” you better believe this is necessary. Your voice might make people hear you, but what you choose to act on is what will truly make people listen.
At this point you’re probably wondering what in the world brought me back to the blog bombarding you with random definitions and statements that might seem like common sense. Well, I’m back at it. I’m referring to the never ending USA gymnastics, safe-sport, and really the entire gymnastics culture as a whole debacle. However, I’m not here today to talk about them and all they’re doing wrong because we can’t change that. I’m here to talk about us. I struggle with the lack of progress being made, but I’ve come to realize It’s difficult to be disappointed in something I have drastically lowered my expectations for. We have learned for years the progress that people want is not coming from these organizations or at least as quickly as they want, but here’s the catch… I guarantee no amount of tweets, posts, and sassy clap backs are going to make them do anything different. There are people with so much power within the gymnastics community who have a chance to truly take a stand with drastic movement. You want investigations look into other options to get it done yourself, you want change, heck ,start your own brand new organization. You won’t be able to convince me that athletes won’t join the organizations their role models built from the ground up. There are gymnasts and even retired gymnasts that I know if they decided to go on their own and represent themselves from a completely different platform everyone and their mom would probably hop right on it. Repeatedly voicing the lack of respect for USAG can be effective, but it is no longer productive.
Now please hear me on this, I am not saying that it is right or fair that we have to do the job of an organization that was built specifically to handle these issues. I’m the first to say it’s completely ridiculous these matters even existed, but what are we going to do about it? Hope the 3k likes on our latest savage social media outburst is going to bring enough attention? And trust me I’m the first to retweet, repost, and send to all my friends the newest jab so I’m not saying stop because they can be effective statements. I love hearing people’s stories, and the strength they have in saying they still have a voice. But again, that word voice. Is that all we are is a voice? What are we choosing to support our voice with? Our new following from our last post? I’m sorry if that sounds harsh, but it’s becoming overwhelmingly frustrating. The original goal has been to inform. And we have informed the community until we are blue in the face. Everyone is aware that there are cracks in the foundation people are poorly attempting to cover up with some 50 cent Elmer’s glue that’s not gonna hold. I mean if we can agree on one thing, we can agree on that am I right?
I’m not pointing fingers, I’m not shaming how situations have been handled. I respect those who share their opinions and those who support other opinions. If all you want to do is support the movement and you don’t feel the burning desire to change it, I still respect you. I don’t, however, respect the passionate claims to start a revolution that quickly become silent when the spotlight disappears. I am done beating a dead horse. If you want a difference you’re not going to make it from the outside, not easily anyways. Being involved in the sport post athlete has been one of the best decisions I have made because I have had the opportunity to act upon everything I disagree with. I get to contribute to the culture I want gymnastics to be known for. If you are so passionate about these issues get in a gym and coach. Be one of the good ones. Be involved in the issues somehow. Find an opportunity to be on the inside of the sport, organization, and on the inside of the problem. We have to stop saying one thing, but then turning our back to continue on with how it’s always been.
So now I say to you again, but a little differently. My dream is that women know they have a tenacious voice to help start something, but they also have the ability to take influential action to finish it. I crave the idea of women knowing that if the job isn’t getting done they have the capability to do it themselves. Listen, this is something I still have to dream for myself everyday too. It’s not an idea that has just been planted in young girls’ heads from the start. If I am waiting for someone else to end injustice and you are waiting, it will never end. In the beginning it was on them, but now it’s on us.