In Honor of Women
Sana Chaudhry
They say women are the weaker sex, but they haven’t met the women that I know.
What’s the first thing you think of when you think about a woman? Whilst this may prompt several different answers, there is one word that seems to go almost hand-in-hand with the females of this world, and that is weak. From the start, society has branded females as weaklings, too easily influenced and highly emotional. And because our male counterparts have always demonstrated examples of outward strength they have been given the upper hand whilst women are made to bear the yoke of oppression and driven to suffer in silence. All because we are not built to lift a large car over our heads or even take a punch without shedding a single tear. Yet most people seem to forget that females have been the basic driving force behind man’s evolution. There is a reason the saying, “behind every successful man lies the work of a woman” exists. Why then are we dealt such a fate, where one finds thorns and hardships around every corner?
When I was younger, I was not aware of these little things that existed in my surroundings. I never once questioned the fact that all the educated women that I saw, after their marriages, stayed at home and tended to the daily requirements of domestic life. It also seemed completely normal that a man would beat his wife when he was displeased with her, that’s usually what we see on screen nowadays anyway. The workings of a household could be likened to a well thought out play that took place in a Barbie and Ken playhouse. Perfect on the outside, yes, but it was only when one looked closely could you really see the cracks in the facade. I realized that our kind housed feelings of resentment deep within themselves, feelings that had been passed down from generation to generation as a cruel rite of passage, feelings that arose due to an eternity of being oppressed. But whilst my generation boasts of greater gender equality and stronger female figures, I find that the women I most admire were those very ordinary, simple females living around me. Those women who managed to live a life full of dignity and honor despite living in a society that condemned their efforts to progress forward.
It was only when I grew up and gained some experience of the real world did I realize that these things are innate qualities that women possess. True, that we have little to none physical strength and honestly speaking we have very little use of it, yet it is our inner and emotional strength that pushes us forward and makes us persevere. Therefore it is these females, these everyday women like our aunts, our mothers, even our sisters, whom I admire. Because they survived as individuals despite living in a society that has oppressed them from the beginning not to mention maintained a constant presence over their existence. It is time the men heard us, we are the women of this world, we have a voice and we have a right to be heard!
