Sjogren's is something you live with your whole life. The good news for me is now I know what's happening after spending years not knowing... I feel like I can get better and move on.
Venus WilliamsRead
The message I like to convey to women and girls across the globe is that there is no glass ceiling.
Interpretation
Women can achieve anything they aspire to without limitations.
Venus Williams emphasizes the idea that women and girls should not feel restricted by societal norms or expectations, suggesting that they can break through barriers and achieve their goals. The metaphor of a 'glass ceiling' represents invisible obstacles that prevent women from reaching high positions or success, and Williams' message encourages empowerment and belief in one's potential.
In practice
In a women's leadership conference to inspire attendees.
Sjogren's is something you live with your whole life. The good news for me is now I know what's happening after spending years not knowing... I feel like I can get better and move on.
I don't want to give anyone an edge in my mind. Every time I walk out on the court, I have to feel I'm the best so I can compete well. A lot of times, my chief rival is just me.
I think nowadays it's so easy as an athlete to become a statistic whether or not you lose everything or having trouble or whatever it may be.
I have always said that after sport, I wanted a life, I wanted an opportunity, I wanted to be able to do something. And if something happens - the economy falls out or the dollar is worthless, anything could happen - you have to be ready to work. And I'm ready.
If I have to work hard or think hard or just copy somebody else that's doing it better - whatever it takes, I'm going to find that solution. That's the drive that keeps me going.
Sports are a great place to show that equality can happen.
In my own case, I had to train myself out of that phony smile, which is like a nervous tic on every teenage girl. And this meant that I smiled rarely, for in truth, when it came down to real smiling, I had less to smile about. My 'dream' action for the women's liberation movement: a smile boycott, at which declaration all women would instantly abandon their 'pleasing' smiles, henceforth smiling only when something pleased them.
More countries have understood that women's equality is a prerequisite for development.
WHEN AT 15, MY GIRLFRIENDS STARTED DROPPING OUT OF THEIR BELOVED SPORTS TEAMS, BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T WANT TO APPEAR MUSCLE-Y, WHEN AT 18, MY MALES FRIENDS WERE UNABLE TO EXPRESS THEIR FEELINGS, I DECIDED THAT I WAS A FEMINIST.
The older I get, the more impressed I am with women. I have yet to meet a woman who is not strong. They don't exist.
We teach girls shame; close your legs, cover yourself, we make them feel as though by being born female they're already guilty of something.
Who knows what women can be when they are finally free to become themselves?
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