Women - this word is slang with many cultures, no? Here people say, wear bangles if a man fails to prove his manliness for any reason. There are many other examples I and you can give where this same thing happen.
Women mean powerless, good for nothing, a burden to society!
Just a decade ago, the status of women in society was quite different from what we see now. I'm not talking about the so-called third-world counties but in general. Because this exploitation happens in many forms. I have witnessed the change over time. But still, I came to meet many women who blame their fate just because they were born as a woman.
I understand it's not easy to feel proud as a woman because we go through so many things, I also sometimes used to think; my life would be easy if I would be a boy.
Now, I don't think that anymore.
My teenage years were very tomboyish. From my cloth, accessories to my behavior I used to copy all the cool boys. It's necessary to clarify that I was not tomboyish to just copy the fashion but I used to hate my identity. But the more mature I got the better I came to realize that there's nothing wrong with being a woman. And I'm very certain, that's when I started to love myself, build my personality, and became more strong.
I can give another example from my life.
As I used to work with an international NGO, I had the chance to meet many marginal women, see their life closely, learn about their life struggles. I have observed the same thing repetitively - they feel 'less' because of their gender. It's not their fault but society's. And I said it hundreds of times that being a woman is nothing 'less' rather it holds more 'power' if we use them as per.
There are so many examples of women who are taking care of their families single-handedly. It's not easy but not impossible too.
Our traditional socio-cultural practices limit women's opportunities in education, skill development but they never can limit the power of women. No matter what there are many women out there fighting and surviving while facing all of the odds. This makes us more powerful, no?
Accepting women's viewpoints, women's sense of self-worth, their ability to determine their own choices, and their right to influence; the combination of these can make us more powerful. Only then we can feel proud of being women. Only then women can gain power and control over their own lives and acquire the ability to make strategic choices.
We are different but influential, we are unlike men yet we are powerful in our own ways. We have 'less' but we can be 'more' significant in many ways.
Take pride as a woman, don't feel less!
