The world of work is cruel to women

When it was said that women are beginning to take up space, we never assumed that their presence would be felt so immensely. The Cabinet reshuffle speaks to empowerment of women in politics.

The space has been occupied for many years – but our presence is being felt and now more than ever. Yet, very strange that a woman can be anything she wants, yet in corporate organisations the right to pregnancy is muddied.

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One can fall pregnant but it is frowned upon should this very pregnancy come with high-risk complications. One cannot fall sick, because “pregnancy is not a disability”.

At the end of the maternity period, a work relationship is horribly stained. You survive the pregnancy and are expected to survive the toxicity of an employer. Hypocritical? The rhetoric is clear and simple, the woman must be a homemaker, easily accessible to the needs of those that call her “mom, wife, daughter-in-law and even daughter”.

But the son, he must take to the sky and expand territories beyond his wildest imaginings. While the woman can dream, her dreams must be within the confines of what has been predetermined to be acceptable. Boys who dream, the sky becomes the limit.

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It is for this reason that the likes of Major Mandisa Mfeka, Saray Khumalo and Tatjana Schoenmaker are names we cannot ignore – these are our dreams becoming real – this is the culmination of our work, celebrated and otherwise in the limelight, refusing to be ignored because sometimes home situations do not allow for this flourish!

The woman who cuts her maternity leave short to enable the functioning of an organisation is applauded.

The woman who hardly sees her children grow because she is more present as an employee than a homemaker … these are women who enjoy the support of the world of work.

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Women may have a long way to go in forging their paths in the halls of power, but one thing we do not need is the flip-flopping of men who support us when their confusion is high and tear us down when patriarchy is their comfort!