International Women’s Day (IWD) is a day to recognise how far we’ve come towards gender equality, and also how far we have left to go. For me, this is not simply about women, this is about our treatment to all, for how we treat our girls is not too far off how we treat our boys.
As adults we become so accustomed to the opinions and judgement from others and our desire to “belong” in society that we often miss the obstacles, barriers we face from societal scrutiny and their effects on our mental health, its impact on our relationships and ultimately, society as a whole. The incessant opinions from others seep into our psyche to the point that it’s near impossible to separate the voices and opinions of others from our own.
A few examples of this negative commentary for women:
– If they choose a career path rather than a “traditional” route.
– Is what they’re wearing deemed “inappropriate” or “revealing”?
– If they speak their mind, are they “too emotional”?
– Whether they wish or enjoy being a mother or not.
– If they’re soft enough?
– If they’re too “controlling” of their partner?
and the list goes on.
You see where I’m getting at? It honestly boggles my mind how much we opinionate and tear people apart with our comments! With all the list above and one’s own internal negative commentary, it’s more surprising to me that we have so many mothers “keeping it all together”. And this is just one example of what women face.
Am I saying women have it worse than men? No I’m not, I’m saying as it’s IWD, let’s celebrate how strong we are and acknowledge that we still have a long way to go as a society to be kind and accepting of the choices people make for their own lives, women and men alike and hope that our future generations feel empowered to be themselves through goodness, humility and reverence.
