A Woman for the Women

In the fight towards equality and being heard we as women have a major role in it, we dictate how we want to be treated per our actions. It is our duty to have one’s back so are to protect their reputation, interests, intentions, and mental health among others. If we fail the entire gender gets affected and our advocacy to have equal chances becomes harder.

Jealousy and envy is a major drawback. I have seen and heard women tell ill of another woman just to ruin them and have them lose their job, get hated, and tarnish their reputation just because they are doing better than them forgetting that we all can’t fit in the same position or play the same role, we have our ranks per our capabilities and qualifications. Blowing out someone else’s candle doesn’t make yours shine bright, we are there to complement one another, that is our purpose, fighting ourselves is slowing the struggle of ever gaining equal rights.

Once in the office treat your fellow women with respect, not only do tables turn but it is right to treat others with respect. Don’t disrespect one just because they happen to be at your mercy, I mean you can choose to attend or ignore them. Not everyone is strong enough to ignore words or actions that threaten their self-esteem and in case you say or do hurtful things to them, they end up doubting themselves again, thinking that they are not worthy or deserving of what they seek, and end up giving up on what they are chasing and eventually, dreams get shattered and self-esteem ruined.

Generally, people are going through a lot from a mental breakdown, depression, and pressure among other issues, and passing judgment is wrong. In the recent cases in Kenya of women getting killed some women took to social media to criticize them for immorality and thirst for fast money. Those ladies are gone and no matter what no one should judge them for their side of the story died with them, no clue of what happened to them, what was going on in their mind. Do they deserve to be butchered for wanting a better life? If one is not caught up in providing letting go is the best thing to do. Most people are in for cult or destruction, just what if their perpetrators fall in that category? Condemning them in their death means that they deserved to die in cold blood and once again the struggle towards ending gender-based violence becomes slower. Women we defend in public and scold in private, we don’t have to wash our dirty linen outside it portrays our division and that way we can easily get defeated or ignored by the authorities.

Education is important but even if not every child is academically smart, it doesn’t mean you should drive them to hate themselves completely. While in high school I watched a classmate get bullied by our teacher for not being academically smart, it is not her fault, do your part diligently, let her do her, and leave the rest to God. She got depressed from being looked down upon and she was pushed to silence, her social life was affected such that she didn’t get involved in group discussions. Imagine someone not achieving her goals or fulfilling herself because you were mean to her a fellow woman, we can do better than that. We are still fighting for the girls to get educated, we can’t have others dropping out.

Body shaming has also risen amongst us that a woman can openly call out another for their appearance, at least if not for anything can we respect God’s creation? So many things determine how a woman's body physique changes from time to time and more especially during pregnancy and after pregnancy so calling one names and body shaming them is uncalled for because one can’t entirely control that, nature can’t be tampered with. We are all beautiful in our states because giving up a good physique to bring up another life is a huge sacrifice. If you can’t use social media for growth don’t go about tampering with other people’s growth.

In any place we find ourselves in especially schools and workplaces let's be our sister keepers, I don’t mean you should go about lazying around or gossiping but rather watching out for one another. Regular talks are important because those talks help one pour out their heart and relieve the burden they carry. Those lunch breaks can be used for bonding, people are going through a lot, especially with the strain in the economy and they just need someone to listen to them. Recently in Nigeria, a lady committed suicide which could have been avoided if someone was keen to see the change in their behavior or mood. When one is going through a lot they appear withdrawn, distracted, and distant, and no matter what they do they can’t entirely conceal what is in their heart.

Dear women if we keep on being our enemies the fight towards equality will remain just but a dream so we have to join forces if we must visualize that dream. If we fail, we fail so many generations and we will never enjoy the joy of being heard and getting involved in important matters. Fighting ourselves portrays us as confused elements who hardly know what they want. if you are in an office treat your fellows with respect I mean lead and let others follow no matter what your rank is. Disrespecting a fellow woman in front of a man can cause them a lot and that man might end up disrespecting them as well, let us be our sister keepers and protect one another.