Women Do (cont): How can I can succeed when they set me up to fail?

This is a story that almost every woman in my country can relate to, yet many a time we don't realize when we face injustices because we've been led to believe that this is our path as women. Have you ever been in a situation where you thought you were the anomaly because everyone around you thinks that women should always act weak, less than, unaccomplished, apologetic, etc.?

Our society makes an assumption that if women have equal rights, stand tall, have an upper hand, or just merely be respected for who they really are, then institutions will collapse! This is a fallacy stemming out of a generation filled with insecurity, immaturity, trauma, post-traumatic tendencies, to name a few; which has, in turn, blindfolded us into becoming parasites attacking our own beings. I've heard women implying that a female rape or domestic violence victim put themselves in the way of danger in how they were dressed, or how they talked to the offender. Talk about gender traitors!

The society needs to advocate for women's rights, but most importantly women need to be educated about their rights and how to advocate for them. In my previous article, I shared a recent event in my life in which men and women expected four women to fail. First of all, based on how they have been taught and how they live and treat women, we were supposed to fail. These people were not just being mean when expecting us to fail, rather they were expecting a common result of their actions. They are indeed aware of how little they invest in girls, how they raise them as weaker and less than; they were correct in thinking that we failed. We were not a product of their upbringing, we did not become what the society intended of us, something that scares most patriarchal communities.

What do we tell our children about the world, people around them, and about themselves? More importantly, what's our view of the same? We can't just keep talking about changing our views, we have to practice and become the change we advocate for. Referring back to my story, there were so many kids present at the time of my story; what lessons I wonder did those kids take from the unfolding?

We are mothers, daughters, friends, visionaries, queens, rulers, we are WOMEN! Let's not give up fighting for a better today and the best future we can hope for! When we bond and become each other's anchor, we are the change!