It's walking down the street to your professional job, wearing a professional outfit, with a professional mindset and getting cat-called by someone in a pickup truck. The worst part is, you can't say or do anything back to that disrespectful, arrogant man that had the audacity to make you feel uncomfortable. Why? Because you "need to uphold the highest standards of womanhood." So men can sit around and yell things at women and it's totally fine, but if I want to yell something back along the lines of: "Get a life, you jerk." I will be looked upon as not classy and not behaving very woman-like. It's fair, I guess.
It's feeling pressure to look a certain way. All the models in the media are skinny, therefore I need to be skinny. Hell, if I can't get skinny the right way, I might as well not eat for three days. Yes, that'll do the trick. It's feeling pressure to dress a certain way, act a certain way, express yourself a certain way. "You're not tall enough, you're not funny enough, you're not pretty enough. You're just not good enough." We have all heard it. Believe me when I say it sucks to be told by someone you're not good enough. But hey, that's just being a woman. It's fair, I guess.
It's spending two hours getting ready to go somewhere and no one even notices. Men take all of ten minutes to throw themselves together from the minute they step in the shower to the minute they leave the door and they look great every time. Being a woman is a different story. On a good day we can take anywhere from a half hour to a full hour getting ready for an event, sometimes longer. Sometimes we look good, and then other times not so much, because there is so much that can go wrong. Your hair isn't curling right, your shoes aren't matching your dress, you screwed up your winged eyeliner. Funny thing is, nobody even notices these things. In fact, nobody even notices when you do have it all together and your makeup is perfect and so is your hair. Nobody appreciates the time and the effort we spend in order to make ourselves look presentable. It's fair, I guess.
It's working just as hard, if not harder, to climb the corporate ladder and still not making as much as our male counterparts. Going that extra mile is totally worth making on average less than 21 cents per dollar than men. Right? Wrong! Oh, yeah I forgot, when they gave me those two X Chromosomes there was a contract with really fine print that read, "As a woman there will be certain unjust things that you'll have to deal with throughout your life, suck it up." It's fair, I guess.
It's men constantly underestimating your intelligence. Men constantly are complimenting you on your looks because "It's what girls want." Oh really is it? I'm sorry, I must have not gotten the memo because I have a lot of other things to offer. I have got a brain and a voice. Please stop calling me cute, because it's not cute. Instead see what I have to offer. Judge me on my creativity, what books I like to read, my goals; these are respectable traits to compliment a woman on, not that she's "cute." Let's talk about other things before you call me cute. And to the guy at the bar: calling a girl cute is not a sure-fire way to pick up chicks. But hey. It's fair, I guess.
It's fair, right? Maybe not, but then again life isn't fair. There will be certain things we as women need to deal with that may not be the most fair, but that's the irony of it all. We as women need to deal with these things in a classy manner because that's what's expected from us. But ladies, it is OK to open your mouth. We have a voice! Politely ask the man who is cat-calling you across the street to stop because it is making you uncomfortable or better yet, say nothing and keep walking. Silence says the most sometimes. You should focus on being the best you that you can be, and don't worry about society's opinions on what's popular and what's in. Just do you, girl. Don't spend two hours getting ready to impress anyone other than yourself. If you want to take that long getting ready it should be for you, not for the opinions of others because they don't really care that much anyway. Ask for that raise! Or at least make sure you are getting paid as much as your male counterparts. If you are not, ask your supervisor why. You deserve to know the answer. And lastly, tell the guy at the bar calling you cute to shut up. You should have men want to get to know you better for other things than just your looks. Being a woman can be a struggle, but speak up; it's worth it.
