What it means to be a woman. What it used to mean was to be a beautifully submissive female with a kind heart. Someone to keep the house clean. To put breakfast, lunch and dinner on the table. A wife who took care of the children and kept the husband happy. She did the laundry and attended events for the husband all dolled up to show off to his co-workers.
Now to be a woman is entirely different. It is more complex.
Being a woman means being confident, but not conceited. Smart, but not so smart it will negatively affect the male ego. It is the be proper and have class, although she must let loose and live a little. She needs to be experienced, but still innocent. She can say what she wants as long as it doesn’t go against the other’s beliefs. She is told to be dominant, but in reality, they still want her to be submissive. To speak her mind as long as she doesn’t speak too loudly.
We are constantly told in school that we cannot wear tank-tops and short skirts because it is distracting for the male species and will taint their learning. Then later in life men like when we wear minimal clothing because it is pleasing for them to look at and satisfies sexual desires. And once men finally decide which woman they want to get serious with, they don’t want her to show skin anymore, except when it’s only for them.
Now this is not to negate the men who do support women and encourage the power of femininity, but why can’t this be normalized for all men? Why can’t acknowledging a woman’s power be the default? As a woman, I will not settle for a man who does not think the highest of me and genuinely wants me to be independent and successful. I do not want to rely on a man to support me because I will not let a man rely on me to support me.
Our power comes from being a woman. Embrace it and embody it. Everything has been adjusted to make life easier on men, but why? It is actually because women hold so much power we have to diminish it to avoid completely overruling the male species. Even though society is not going to change misogynistic tendencies tomorrow, you can start by realizing your potential and understanding that when you feel diminished, it is just someone acknowledging their fear of all the power you hold.
Women could take over the world if we released our power to its fullest potential all at once, but we don’t because we are kind. Rather than overloading the world, we will just slowly release small amounts of our power every day, a little bit at a time. So instead let’s just sit back, relax, and watch as our inner power flourishes year by year.
