Thursday, March 9, 2017

Women's History Month

Women have had to endure so many obstacles throughout the years, whether it was the fight for equal pay in a position or dealing with discrimination before even obtaining a position. Women have become bread winners in families and parenting with no father in the home. It is unfortunate that there are so many single mother's, even if the woman was married previously. Women are business owner's, manager's, doctor's, in Congress, in the military, athletes, musicians, mother's, sister's, daughters, and so much more. There was a question online about "why isn't there a men's month?" When I first saw that I was like "duh," we obviously don't get enough respect, attention, and accolades for the contribution's we have made to this world. Although women have come a long way from the suffrage movement there are still everyday struggles that women endure and have to face daily.

The one thing that a man can never do is be a woman, so at times it is really hard for a man to empathize, but the message of gender equality for women is not to say that we have to do everything a man does to show how much we can conform to being more like a man; rather, we are women, look what we can do even though we are not men. This is not a game of tug-of-war, this is real life, and some women feel like they have to fight for every freedom because it has not always been there. Most women I've met, don't want to stop being a woman, just to be treated fairly, they want to be free to make their own choices concerning how someone treats them, where and how they work, and most importantly be respected in and outside of the home.

I for one am tired of women getting more attention for anything they have ever done sexually and when you have a master's degree and are a small business owner you are discouraged and sometimes treated like you are stupid for doing so. On some occasions women are made to feel like they are bad mother's for having their own career, but if a woman is on welfare and is always asking a man for money she is looked down on like she is a lazy person that is a gold-digger. Women are strong even when we don't have to be and that doesn't mean that we want to be men, but maybe it means, we need stronger men to step up and be there for us while we are being strong.

Being or becoming the woman you are meant to be does not come from being someone that you are not. Be the best you that you can be, this is the year of no limits, and the years to come are beyond that. Become your best you and appreciate who you are and continue to be more, because limitations are things that a person puts ones self. If you never receive any limitations then you take your power back from whomever wants to take it from you. This is your life, so live it with a purpose.

Monique Lynelle Gray