Your body, your money, your decisions, your life…everything you do, is a matter of YOUR choice.
It’s the old, old story. As financially independent as a woman becomes in this day and age, as successful as she is in managing her home and career, as good as she is at making her family’s dreams come true, some things never change…
‘Let your husband handle your mutual fund investments, why are you bothering your head with all these technical things?’
‘Coming home late from the party? Tell your brother to pick you up…’
‘Why are you paying the bill? Let your boyfriend do it…’
‘Your dad allows you to go on off-site meetings with guys from work?’
Our patriarchal notions of a woman’s place in society prompt us to believe that women are fragile beings that need to be nurtured, protected and most importantly, ‘guided’ through life by men. Society attributes men with more talent, higher brain power and a decision making mind-set. Never mind the fact that women are equally talented, equally intelligent, and equally adept at making decisions. But societal norms about gender disparity are aimed so as to discourage most women from reaching their full potential as human beings.
It is time to shake off these shackles – it is time to reclaim your life as an equal.
On Women’s Day, it is time to make a pledge to yourself.
That every day of your life will be Women’s Day because you are special, your choices are your own and you can run your life the way you want to.
That you are not, and never will be, a lesser individual because of your gender.
That only you have the right to decide how you look, how you dress your body and hair, who you marry, whether or not you want children, or whether you will put up with any sort of injustice.
That you are not going to be relegated to a label. Foolish, emotional, smart, pretty, homosexual, monogamous, fat, stern, hot-tempered, pacifist, independent, timid…these are labels that describe, not define. You are a human being first, and you have the same rights as any man.
So if you want to make a difference to your own life and the world, go out there and reclaim what belongs to you. Play football in the rain, laugh loudly in a public place, have a drink alone in the pub, go on a diet to get fit, not thin, love with abandon, live with every fibre of your being.
Because only a free woman can have Women’s Day every day!
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