Exploring the Cultural Impacts of Patriarchy with Elise Loehnen | #252 | Kelly LeVeque

Internal Struggles

Elise Loehnen shares her insights on the internal restrictions women face due to societal pressures and self-policing. She describes the struggle of balancing personal and professional responsibilities, often leading to learned helplessness, where women feel compelled to take on more than they can handle 1. Elise emphasizes the importance of recognizing these patterns and redirecting self-love to break free from these constraints.

It's like a redirection of self-love, and it is putting balls down so that other people, partners, ideally, pick them up.

--- Elise Loehnen

She also discusses the exhaustion stemming from the constant pursuit of perfection and the need to identify and challenge the systemic misogyny ingrained in society 2.

   

Achieving Balance

Finding balance amidst modern life's demands is a recurring theme in Elise Loehnen's discussion. She highlights the cultural pressure to constantly do more, which often leads to anxiety and panic when needs and wants are not clearly articulated 3. Elise suggests taking time to identify personal needs and desires as a step towards achieving balance.

Most of us... have never actually sat down and taken ten minutes, 20 minutes, an hour... to articulate what it is that we need and what it is that we want.

--- Elise Loehnen

Kelly LeVeque adds that women often weigh their professional opportunities against family responsibilities, a burden not equally shared by men 4.