Women need to muster courage to stand-up for what they believe in instead of seeking society's validation

How many times have you heard or seen men needing any form of validation from women to what they want to do in life? Be it choosing what to wear, their career choices or even when being applauded for achievements.

Contrarily, how many times have you had a female friend, sister, wife, colleague seek your validation in choices they’ve made?

Why do women need validation from anyone, instead of just doing what they truly believe in and be happy about it?

These questions have often bugged me, sometimes to extremes, often leading to challenging my male colleagues to question these so-called ‘valedictory’ traits in them.

Who gives men the right to validate anything that women do, when the opposite isn’t true? How is it that we as a society are changing in any manner when any achievement by women we know becomes a form of patronizing them?

How can validation and patronizing women lead to any form of equality?

So, what do we need for the society to turn equal? First-equal rights to do anything. It could be a choice of career, places to visit, lifestyle, sexual choices etc. Why only men, an equally important role here needs to be played by parents, one-half of which is women. Mothers need to shed their inhibitions to allow their daughters to really see themselves as equal participators in society.

Rights to choose an equal life post motherhood- How many women do you know who have had to quit working because they turned mothers? How many times did you think that their quitting is because they couldn’t manage the stress of motherhood coupled with the pressures of the workplace? Is child rearing the sole responsibility of the woman? In the 21st century, why do we still think that the man is the primary bread-earner and the woman has the choice of quitting, therefore? Parenthood is an equal responsibility. BOTH parents have equal roles to play in the upbringing of the child, that includes changing nappies, taking them to parks, cooking, bathing and feeding them.

Proper child-caring facilities at workplaces- Why should women be penalized for partaking the most natural phenomena in the world reproducing. Women can’t be forced to quit work because workplaces fail to recognize that women need to work equally as much to be able to productively see the country grow. We’re only about talking about 50% of the country’s workforce that is routinely discriminated against for doing what is also something mankind’s future depends on. Imagine if women decided to stop reproducing, where will all the men on this planet come from?
​
Stop self-pity- Common women, this is the 21st century. Stop relying on the society for everything good or bad. Stand up for yourselves. Choose your own paths, learn to fight for what you believe in and see the men in your lives fight even harder for you when they realize you mean business! And one more thing; you don’t need validation from anyone. What you need is the courage to follow through with your plans.
So, the world, stop patronizing us, speak to us like equals. We don’t need your sympathy because being a woman IS NOT a handicap. In fact, on the contrary, the world will be handicapped if women ceased to exist. We don’t need chivalry, we need respect like is there for ‘mankind’. Respect for our decisions, our choices, for the way we lead our lives.