I'm going to be completely up front and honest with you guys. I am shocked and disappointed yet not surprised that I am not only wanting to write about this specific topic, but I feel almost obligated to.

In today's time and generation, women feel either pressured and disrespected, manipulated and ridiculed, or mistreated and vandalized due to many different aspects and by many different people. All are which respectable and sincere feelings because, as people, no feeling is ever wrong.

Some women are frowned upon when it comes to different jobs and hobbies. Some are seen as mere objects rather than human beings with different backgrounds, opinions, and beliefs.

Personally, I have been a victim of sexist comments and opinions, and although they are merely words, it all hurts in the same way and hits home. I sometimes find myself stuck in a rut due to the words of not only men but also women; however, just because I may end up in a rut, I don't allow myself to stay there.

And I'll tell you why.

Although I am a woman and I feel the pressures, insults, opinions, and disrespect from all around me, just like any human being does, I am planted in a world much greater than the evils of this one we temporarily call home.

The Bible, the refuge for this world of disobeying and construction, exalts women against this generation of distortion, disregard, and discredit.

In the very first book of the Bible, we read that women and men alike bear the stamp of God's own image (Genesis 1:27, Genesis 5:1-2). Furthermore, we are not just equals but are distinctly set apart for special honor (1 Peter 3:7). So how can we begin to argue about someone overpowering another in regards to being a man or woman?

God created men and women with each having specific roles that they play in society. We are equal, yet different. What is so wrong about that?

I'm not saying that women are better than men or vice versa. What I am saying is that women and men have the right to respect each other because each have his or her own particular journey, roles, and beliefs in this world. We all deserve the chance at the same promotion, the spot at the table, and the voice that is heard.

But we also have the right, freedom, and power to work hard at what we want to achieve in life, which I wholeheartedly believe in.

I don't want my success to come easy because I am a woman. I want to work just as hard as any one person, no matter a man or another woman. I view hard work as dedication and that, to me, is a respectable trait.

Women are not special strictly because of makeup, jewelry, nice clothes, and professionally done hair. Women, and men, are special because of the heart that resides in the body that God created with His own hands.

I appreciate and cherish my freedoms and rights as a woman, but I also respect and admire the strengths and honors that come with a man. It's not about the outward successes and achievements, "rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." 1 Peter 3:3-4.

By the hands of our Creator, we are equal. Why fight against one another?