graphic courtesy of L.O.V.E.
A new club empowers women to build a life defined by values and success.
With the uprising number of young women falling prey to the feeling of being inferior and lacking self confidence, Anette Bowser created an organization know as ‘Ladies Of ValuE’ or ‘L.O.V.E.’ The purpose of this group is to encourage ladies to emerge with self love and confidence; it also provides guidance for young women who struggle with low self-esteem, as well as the true meaning of a woman with value. Ultimately, L.O.V.E. is a multipurpose resource, meaning it not only educates young ladies, but also helps them with finances and higher education.
“I made a lot of poor decisions in my life, my finances, my love life, and my physical appearance that I’m paying for now,” Bowser described. Bowser has experienced many difficulties growing up due to a lack of resources and misguidance. “I was that girl that I’m targeting,” Bowser explained. “This group is directed to young girls between the ages of 11-18 who know that they need something in life and/or who want to go somewhere in life and don’t want to do it by themselves.” Instead of avoiding the detrimental trend that goes on today with those who lack self love, Bowser decided to build a strong foundation based off of the hardships she experienced.
In today’s society, woman can sometimes be portrayed as not good enough, or inadequate. As a result of these potential societal pressures, a growing amount of young women tend to develop a low self-esteem which affects their everyday lives, the way that they carry themselves, and the way that they handle certain situations. For young girls and teens who do not have a positive role model, they are particularly at risk of giving into society’s unrealistic standards of having to have the perfect body, maintaining a perfect appearance, and having a certain weight. Senior Brooklyn York, a member of the group, described the organization as being “significant to young women because it teaches young women to be independent and to love themselves, and once they do that, they are able to carry those aspects into life.” She also explained that teens and young adults learning to love themselves will begin to uplift the women around them, allowing woman to incorporate a better representation for themselves. “There are resources that you can’t get in school or at home like counseling or suicide hotlines, and things like that will be on the website,” added York.
The Ladies Of Value group is not only available to young girls who have low self-esteem. “If there are girls out there who feel like they’re already there, like they already love themselves and they don’t really need help there, we still want you to come because no one knows everything, so there might be something you could learn from us. Even if you love yourself and maybe the love part isn’t what you need, maybe we can help you get into college, maybe we can help you with your finances, so use us and our resources for all that we can be,” asserted Bowser.
Acknowledging the fact that self worth is a touchy subject and that youth is an essential part of the future, Bowser created this organization to not only evolve today’s society, but to mold teenagers into one with the necessities to influence other generations to come with that same knowledge. “I want girls to just come out loving themselves and then because they love themselves they carry themselves and respect themselves in a certain way,” York said.“I would recommend this organization to anyone-even confident people versus those with low-self esteem, because I think it is important for women and ladies to come together and to strive together to achieve the goals they want to and you can’t always do that alone.”
The LOVE organization meets every other Tuesday at Thomas Jefferson. The meetings are held during lunch (lunch will be provided for those who attend) in room 225 offering students a chance to let their voices be heard. During the meetings, Bowser will challenge the way girls think and the way they perceive themselves. For those girls struggling with self love or those who just want to empower women, the Ladies of Value’s next meeting is highly recommended. Those interested should contact Anette Bowser for more information at ladiezofvalue@gmail.com.
