EMMA GOMEZ CHATHAM
and
SARA GOMEZ CHATHAM
BEING A WOMAN, WHAT MAKES YOU POWERFUL IN THIS COMMUNITY?
"I think one thing that makes me feel pretty powerful is being able to recognize my self and everything about me I guess like there's a saying that if you accept your flaws they can't be used against you. So I really think that if you accept yourself for everything that you are you really don't owe anything to society and you don't feel like you can be controlled by any expectations they have of you."
- Emma
"I think the same with me. Before I would think of OK well this is exactly what I have to be to be a woman you know like shaved legs whatever I have to kind of fit this image of what like men have portrayed women to be and so then after you like over the time I realized I don't have to do that you know and I can be my own person and I think that like in the community like as we grow older and you can see as we grow older or even in high school what we feel about ourselves in ninth grade will be different from what we feel about ourselves in 12th grade because we experience things and we get to like a ball and kind of make up our own ideas of what it's like what we want ourselves to be instead of society."
- Sara
WHAT ARE SOME PERSONAL EVENTS THAT HAVE IMPACTED HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT BEING A WOMAN?
"I won't say that it's one of the things is actually a moment that Sara and I share together. Was this one time we were walking on the street and this guy stopped and he was asking for Sara's phone number and Sara is a very non-confrontational person and very polite she's like No no thank you we have to go. This was like two years ago and I I was the person that was yelling at the man. Like no, get away from us. She's not giving her. She's not giving you her number back off and I remember after I yelled at him that law actually. And when we started to leave because he held us up he told me to watch my back. I was like OK. But I think it was really it was eye-opening to see how those experiences are in real life. I never thought they would actually act that way but somebody's trying to like you just persistently asking and we kept saying no. And it just got more aggressive over time. Not anywhere near physical but it was just interesting to actually experience it for myself because obviously, I've heard a lot about women's experiences like this. And so I think it. It kind of made me a bit more comfortable knowing that I was able to act that way and not just be submissive and polite."
- Emma
"And I remember there's this one time and when we were living in Saudi Arabia you know women would wear abayas and so we'd still be covered up. And so there's this one time I was we couldn't find a ride from the dentist's. So we had to walk to find a taxi. And so like me and my mom being you know blonde hair blue eyed walking across the street which is not normal everyone usually had drivers. And so I just remember I was like what. Twelve. And there are these 30-year-old men like cat calling me and my mom was right there. And so before like when that happened I didn't really understand what was going on you know because I was young and I had never happened to me before. And then when that thing happened again with me and Emma walking across the street I kind of You know I you know like I could have made those connections sooner but I realized how I didn't act before and how I didn't act then but now looking back at it realize how I should act. And just seeing how like women are treated so differently from men because we don't like that doesn't usually happen to them like in these circumstances. And then another part that kind of impact in my life was when I can't remember but yes I can. There was a conversation I was having with some guys and they were talking about women's like leaks in football leagues and volleyball leagues and whatever. They're saying Well men's games are more interesting. I know I never knew that people acted so differently towards women's games. And then after the whole advertising of the women's BFA in Vancouver, it kind of showed me like heck yeah like we can still do this you know. And so the other guys they're just being ignorant and if they actually watched it they could actually enjoy you."
- Sara
TALK TO ME ABOUT YOUR FUTURE PLANS AND DREAMS...
"I mean you will mind like I already know I want to do when I grow up I want to be a physiotherapist and basically the only dream I have. Being a physio is just like being the best not necessarily the best in the world but I want to be and like I imagine I see myself as owning a private clinic when I'm older and then I just want people to say oh you have like you're having back problems something you should go to Emma because she's like the best here. I just want people to say that about me."
- Emma
"I've always whenever I was making projects, would always revolve around media. I didn't know why. Like I would really enjoy it and so I didn't know how I could fit that into my future. But then when I was talking to someone in Spain I realized well there's marketing and there's advertising. And so yeah I found that really really interesting and like projects I'd done with I would my Personal project actually was on how social media affects body image and mental disorders and so I feel like that's something that if I continue to try and pursue the career of marketing then I would want to be I would want to be able to make advertisements and stuff like with women's empowerment and just changing stuff like the way the society thinks."
- Sara
IF YOU WERE TO BE PORTRAYED IN ONE PORTRAIT OF YOURSELF, HOW DO YOU SEE IT?
"I don't know why I put I see myself like standing somewhere smiling and I think with like flowers around me because I just love flowers. I'm always smiling so it'd be strange if there was a portrait of me where I'm not. Yeah, I think you know like. Especially a powerful woman you think of a woman in a power suit."
- Emma
"This girl has confidence this girl’s power is confidence so any I guess any situation or picture that portrays you as confident you can feel you feel powerful when you're confident. So yeah if you're in your element then you're confident and you're powerful. So for me, I just feel like I just feel like you know when have you ever seen like a football match on TV. And so you know how they have those video photos of the guys where they turn like they are just turning around like yeah I'm here. That's my position. Yeah."
- Sara
