I decided to make this post about the challenges women face in their journey towards education.
I live in a country which legally ensures that all women are treated equally, and yet the reality of life on the ground is we are not equal to our male counterparts.
Research has shown that women are still consistently being paid less than men for doing the same job. I have had personal experience of this and it is the most sickening experience! I worked hard and cared about doing a good job, and yet I was getting paid less. It was only when I found out (through a relationship with a co-worker) and called my boss out on it, that my pay was equalised.
As we all know, education costs money, a lot of money if you want to do something like medicine, and if women are being paid less than men in the workplace this may add increased pressure to women who are struggling to cope.
It seems women still have not caught up to the financial security and power that is enjoyed by men in society. Much of this is due to social problems such as the aforementioned inequalities in pay, however I also believe some of this responsibility falls on women themselves.
It seems many women are waiting for the so-called "prince-charming" to show up in their life and take care of everything. They fail to educate themselves on what they need to do to survive in this world. Many women fall into the trap of getting comfortable letting their partner take control of the finances. This leaves them in a reliant and vulnerable position. All women need to take initiative, discard the fairytale images of life we were introduced to as children and get real. Knowledge is power, therefore if women really want to occupy a powerful position within society, they need to educate themselves.
It's not an easy thing to be a woman. I believe woman have always been at a real disadvantage from the get go. First it was physical disadvantage, and then alsodisadvantages of living in male-centered societies.
I believe women are caught in a struggle. Trying to hold onto their equality with men so strongly, that they are afraid of the penalties of being female. As women, our bodies do function differently to men, we struggle each month to varying degrees to keep going, pregnant women are under pressure to work as long as possible up until they give birth, and then to get back to the workplace as soon as possible.
The pressure on women to have it all cannot be understated.
While I was growing up it was my mother who worked full time while my father stayed home with the kids. I'm grateful that I had such a role model early on in life. Career has always been important to me and I believe that's where it came from. However, now that I'm older I am able to talk to my mother about what it was like to be a mother, a wife and a full-time employee.
She said the pressure was unimaginable. If she had her time again she wouldn't have had children because of the toll that it takes trying to have it all.
I wish that those in power could understand this pressure (although they are mostly men so maybe they just can't). Equality as I see it, is the bare minimum that should be required by society. But it's not enough. There should be some allowances made for women and their struggles. I think is not saying that one sex is better or weaker than the other, rather it is saying that we are different to men and that's ok.
If you added up the money spent by a woman on sanitary products for her life (nevermind the painkillers etc) it would add up to a whopping sum. Yet there is no allowance made for this, we just have to shoulder yet another burden.
Equality ensures that men and women get the same number of sick days. Even though, lets face it women could do with an extra few to get them through!
Constantly having to push, constantly trying to be "equal" to men is exhausting!In work I try do everything the men do (even if I struggle due to difference in physical strenght), sometimes I feel I have to just to assert myself. Yes I am a woman, don't dare underestimate me though. It does take a toll on me and my health, and that in turn effects my education.
Men have created societies which are catered to their needs. I hope and pray that as women educate themselves we can go on to create societies that are friendly not only to men's needs but to womens as well!
In the mean time, women like my mother and I struggle to keep up, and yet refuse to fall behind.
Off to study I go! :)
