A couple of days ago, I was surfing the internet when I stumbled upon memes on how women can survive a week of constant bleeding yet we are considered the "weaker" sex. After that, I resumed binge-watching "Skin Wars" and turns out that one of the participants thought that women were ticking time-bombs. I later saw "Legally Blonde" and had an epiphany; Elle Woods kept her identity of a girl that loves fashion but showed the world that she had a brain, too. However, all the expectations that came from all the male characters (except for Emmett) towards all of the female characters got me thinking, "do I want my daughter to come home one day crying because a guy thought she was too emotional or just a pretty face to play with?"
The answer is no. I do not want my daughter to be afraid of walking out in the streets regardless of the time and look down when she crosses paths with a man. I do not want my daughter to feel that she is worthless when she does not have the "ideal" body men drool about. I do not want my daughter to hide her intelligence to appease men. Although I do not hide my intelligence nor my quirkiness, I have felt the lack of seriousness from men until I surprised them that I have the brains and skills. On that note, why can we not be taken seriously in any field? We are more than capable of getting the job done and even pushing the coming forward, always aiming higher each time but when it comes down to it, we are not allowed. For some reason, we are trusted with the future generation and essential paperwork as a secretary.
I do not want a daughter because I believe a woman should be capable of walking down the street without getting catcalled or sexually harassed if a man dares so in public. Sure, guys think it's a beautiful thing since they are giving compliments, however, the way they do so makes the praise feel extremely unwanted. The sad part is that no matter what we wear, we get hit on without asking for it.
To make matters worse, society expects us to graduate, look for a husband, and bear his children. Yes, this social expectation has started to change in the last couple of years, but a vast majority of people expect professional women to marry by the age of 30 and have a baby. If we are professional women, we can expect rumors of us getting our job through sexual favors.
What I want is a world where my baby girl can grow into a confident woman that can confront men without having to hide her intelligence to please men. The good news is that times are changing and more men are realizing that woman are strong. Women are also realizing that they, too, can do things men can.
