“I raise up my voice—not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. … We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.”
Malala Yousafzai

For generations we have been told that we are subservient to men, we are less than equal, not as strong, not good enough to compete. Our brains have been ingrained with a certain view on womanhood and life. There is a specific role we as women need to step into, it is just the way it is, and we need to accept it!

We have been shown that we need the male man to protect, care, provide and give us worth. We must procreate, and make sure our offspring survives. We need to supply a warm place to call home, and ensure food and clean clothes for him. These all originate from patriarchy, the concept where the man is the head of the house, and the woman needs to obey.

I know there has been a lot of positive change and pioneer work done, and we have come so far, but we as women need to take a step back and look into our hearts how old perceptions and traditions still dictate our lives. Sure, we do not have to do any of the above things, it is our choice, but how many of these did we choose, and never gave a moment or thought about?

In some way we have been shown that other women are not our friends, but our enemies. We need to compete, on all levels. We need to compete for the strongest man, the challenging job, be the best mom, have the smartest children, live in a luxury house etc. Where did this originate, and why are we still affected by this?

I personally feel that in a way, we have been told from a young age that we want men on our side, to approve of us, to accept us, that it will make life easier. So our focus is on pleasing men, and we would do anything to keep a man happy. However, we feel women are competing for men, to get the attention, the love, the care, the financial support, so women are enemies. Women will fight for, betray each other, lie and spread rumors for the same man.

This is false and so sick and twisted. Cultural beliefs have a huge impact on us as women, and I am not always sure that we know how deep this goes. Generation after generation, women have been treated differently than their male counterparts. Brothers and sisters treated differently, daughters and sons treated differently, and this has been ingrained in us to know our place and role in society. Do not step out of line, or question things, if you keep quiet you will be fine.

We need to keep challenging stereotypical societal norms and views. We need to work harder for the freedom of women all over the world. We need to unite as women and see our similarities, our struggles, our pain. We need to change the view that another woman is a threat, a competitor or an enemy. We need to realize that we can have friendship, companionship, support, love and so much understanding from our fellow sisters, and that there is so much strength in this connection. We have been fed lies, and we believed it. But we can choose to not believe it, to challenge it and to start to move towards one another and not away from each other. We have an ally in fellow women, never doubt that again!

“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”
Audre Lorde