What Sets Us Free

 What Sets Us Free

Inspired by "Mona Lisa's Smile" and the voices of women past and present

There’s a line in Mona Lisa’s Smile that always stays with me — about girdles. Not just the garment, but what it symbolized: control, restriction, and the cultural expectation that women should shrink themselves — physically, mentally, and emotionally — to be accepted.

It was never just about a girdle.
It was about the patriarchy — how it told women what to wear, how to speak, how to feel, and what to want.
And still does.

But across generations, strong, creative, and courageous voices have risen to challenge it.

Katherine Watson, the fictional professor in Mona Lisa’s Smile, dared her students to think for themselves — to be more than wives, more than accessories.
Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring, risking everything to challenge chemical giants and protect the Earth.
Elizabeth Warren speaks truth to power, championing economic justice in a world designed to crush the vulnerable.
Gloria Steinem, brilliant and bold, helped ignite second-wave feminism and still inspires today.
Emily Carr painted the spirit of the land and culture long before Canada was ready to honour it.
Nellie McClung, Judy LaMarsh, Doris Anderson, Ursula Franklin — Canadian women who pushed back against silence, telling stories the system tried to erase.

These women — real and imagined — cracked open cages so the rest of us could begin to fly.

But freedom… it’s not guaranteed.
Not in 2025.
Not yet.

Today, women are told they must do it all: birth babies, raise them, build careers, stay beautiful, stay quiet. And if they can’t? They feel like failures.

Childcare is expensive and elusive. Many children are raised by overworked nannies while their mothers chase a version of “success” sold by glossy influencers — often empty, often harmful.

Girls are bombarded by messages: that they need Brazilian bikini waxes at 13, or lip fillers by 16. That beauty is value. That value is likes. That aging is failure.

Meanwhile, the next generation is awakening — claiming their truths as girls, boys, both, neither. Trans kids, nonbinary youth, queer voices — all pushing against the binary the patriarchy once held sacred.

And yes, the patriarchy is scared.
Because they know they need us.
Because they always have.

But still, they try to destroy what they fear. They twist media narratives. They turn feminists into punchlines. They tried to humiliate Gloria Steinem for speaking her mind. They criticized Julia Roberts for aging gracefully. They made us believe Botox was better than wisdom.

But here’s what sets us free:

Truth. Courage. Connection. Story. Love.

We are not here to be like men.
We are not here to mimic their power.
We are here to transform it — to lead from empathy, creativity, and inclusion.

And yes — men and boys are hurting too.
Capitalism told them to be tough, rich, emotionless.
Now they are lonely, afraid, and unsure where they fit in a world finally waking up.

But the future is not female alone.
The future is all of us — listening to each other, lifting each other, learning from the past and choosing a different path forward.

We are at a crossroads.
Poverty is rising. Housing is unaffordable. The Earth is crying out.
Canada is in crisis. The U.S. is on fire — literally and metaphorically.
But there is still hope.

Because you are reading this.
Because you care.
Because we are not alone.

Let’s raise our voices.
Let’s tell our stories.
Let’s honour the ones who came before us — and be the voices others will thank in the years ahead.

No more girdles.
No more cages.
No more silence.

We are what sets us free.