Editorial Update: It’s Me, Unapologetically

Thank you for joining us for another issue. As our audience and community of contributors continues to grow, I’ve begun to notice a common thread in my conversations with women. More and more are saying the same thing — they’ve had enough. Enough of the “you should be like this” and “you should do it like that.” They’re tired of the expectations, the moulds, and the silent rules. They’re ready to do things their way.

And I think. It's time. 

For far too long, women have been measured against a mould they never agreed to. A silent, suffocating blueprint of how to look, how to speak, how to behave—and most dangerously, how to belong. But something is shifting. There’s a quiet waking up echoing across coffee shops, online communities, therapy rooms and dinner tables. Women are slowly, powerfully, and finally realising: they do not have to fit in to be worthy. They can—and must—be unapologetically themselves.

This awakening didn’t happen overnight. It was born out of generations of resistance, exhaustion, and the deep longing to be seen for who we truly are—not who we were taught to be.

From the moment we’re born, the world begins shaping us. Pink bows, soft voices, the unspoken message that we must be “nice” before we are anything else. Be gentle. Be pretty. Be small. Don’t speak too loud. Don’t take up too much space. Don't question. Don’t dream too big.

By the 1950s, advertising was in full swing with picture-perfect housewives smiling while scrubbing floors, cooking casseroles, and ironing their husband’s shirts. The message was clear: a woman’s power lies in her ability to serve. And if she wasn’t happy in that role? She just needed a new vacuum or a better shade of lipstick.

Even into the '90s and early 2000s, the expectations evolved but didn’t disappear. Magazines told us to “lose ten pounds fast,” to “keep your man interested,” to “have it all” — but never all at once. Women were expected to be successful but not intimidating. Sexy but not promiscuous. Ambitious but never bossy.

We were trained to shrink ourselves emotionally, physically, and mentally—to become a version of ourselves that was easier for the world to accept.

Something powerful is happening across this generation of women. There is a realisation dawning: We do not exist to make others comfortable. We do not need to apologise for being bold, sensitive, ambitious, angry, healing, loud, soft, messy, whole.

More and more women are burning the mould down.

We are rewriting the rules, not because we are angry (though some of us are), but because we are freeing ourselves from the illusion that we ever had to play a part to be valuable.

Being unapologetically yourself doesn’t mean never feeling fear or doubt—it means choosing to honour yourself despite it. It means saying:

“I can wear red lipstick at 70 if I want to.”

“I can be child-free and still be fulfilled.”

“I can be a CEO, a stay-at-home mum, a pole dancer, a pastor—or all of the above—and not owe anyone an explanation.”

Unapologetically being you means releasing the need for external validation. It means showing up with your full heart, even when it trembles. It means becoming more of yourself—not less.

This movement is about collective healing. When one woman stands in her truth, she creates space for others to do the same. And so, the domino effect begins.

Sisters are cheering each other on instead of competing. Mothers are raising daughters with voices that echo. Women are choosing rest over burnout, boundaries over people-pleasing, authenticity over perfection.

We are no longer asking for permission.

We are no longer shrinking.

We are no longer sorry.

Because I am not "too much". I am not “too loud”. I am not broken, or lost, or late.

I am not who the advertisements told me to be.

I am not the mould. I am not your expectation.

I am unapologetically me. And I am just getting started.

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