January 2018
I am a
woman
I am a woman. In the eyes of the world, my function as a woman has been
fulfilled – I reproduced. But I do not always look at myself as a woman, the
female of human. In other words, I do not always show or exercise my femininity
as some women are so skilled in executing. When I work with my colleagues or
socialize with friends, my behaviour is never decided by the gender of the person
I am with but rather a number of other factors such as the occasion, the degree
of familiarity etc. In fact, I have been posed with embarrassing comments like
“Oh, you’re too tough for men to get along with!” The harshest would be “You are strong! You can
survive the trauma!”
Women should always uphold themselves with pride and dignity. But the
problem is we care too much about how others look at us rendering us live a
life in others’ shadows. This eagerness to please or to reach up to people’s standards
brings in compliments at times but more often disappointment, self-degradation
and even self-destruction.
Women and maybe men can go to extremes to meet the expectation of their
men or the circle they are in – plastic surgery to enhance their looks,
child-bearing even in their 40s to satisfy their men’s hope of a descendant
etc. But surgeries can fail, a child cannot hold a cheating heart. Children born of
such relationship are most unfortunate. Horrific child abuse cases are not
uncommon.
Women do not need men
to live a fulfilling life. We do not need to wait for orders. But most
important of all, we should not whine and moan and yet stay there in a victim
mentality. We always have choices. We get stuck in a situation only because we
allow it.
May all women love
themselves and be their own masters! Happy Women’s Day!
