The trailer above is for a film coming out called Miss Representation, which I first saw on Meghan’s blog. The interesting thing is I’ve been thinking a lot lately about women in positions of influence and how hard (and lonely) it must be at times.

I come from the stock of one such woman. A brave, glass-ceiling-breaker, take no prisoner Mom. She started her own business and had me and was a single mom by the time she was 25. She sold her business and started another (or three) and worked her way through running a business, having a family (along with me two other young daughters by then too with my step-dad) all the while putting herself through business school and then her PhD. Serious stuff. She’s among the greats, the better than greats.

But it wasn’t always easy.

It wasn’t always easy to see how much she was sacrificing for me (as her own daughter) but also for all the legions of other women out there striving to get ahead and have the luxury to be whatever and whoever they wanted to be.

And how far have we come? Some perspective.

• Women are 51% of the U.S. population.
• Women hold only 3% of clout positions in the mainstream media (telecommunications, entertainment, publishing and advertising).
• Women are merely 3% of fortune 500 CEOs.
• Women comprise 7% of directors and 8% of film writers in the top 250 grossing films.
• The United States is 84th in the world in terms of women in national legislatures.
• Women hold 17% of the seats in the House of Representatives (the equivalent body in Rwanda is 56.3% female).
• 91% of plastic surgery procedures are performed on women. The number of breast augmentation procedures in this country increased more than 700% between 1992 and 2004.
• As many as 10 million American women have a potentially fatal eating disorder.
• Approximately 1 out of 6 American women are victims of rape or attempted rape.

I don’t know about you, but regardless of sex, color, sexual orientation or background, those stats make me frustrated. Did my mom’s sacrifice help push the needle forward? As my mother’s daughter what is my responsibility to make us brazen, smart and strong women continue to stand up and ask for bigger leadership roles, demand to be paid equal pay, and above all respect the other women fighting the good fight.

I’ve long been a supporter of my fellow women leading the charge. But that hasn’t been reflected recently in my writing as I haven’t shared the amazing women’s organizations and groups that I follow. It’s time to turn that around. I’m going to posting more about where women can look to find the support we need. If you know of an organization that I should feature, please let me know in the comments below or send me a note.

It’s not just about us sisters, it’s everyone. It’s standing up for equal rights for all and not resting on our laurels or allowing ourselves to get distracted by Hollywood and entertainment. It exists, yes, the images of perfection are out there. But as anyone reading this knows, perfection is impossible. What is possible? Hope in a better tomorrow and the knowledge that we all have it within us to be an active part of that conversation.