In celebration of Women’s Month, we asked the youngsters some questions about women, and even though all of their answers were quite adorable, one of them (about women rugby players) made me think about women and stereotypes, and why it is still such a huge thing.
Why is it that, if you are a woman, it is expected of you to always wear make-up, dresses, high heels and have long hair, and, if you do not fit that mould, you are labelled as different or not being woman enough?
From a very young age I have never been a typical girl, and I have spent most of my life trying to prove that it is okay to be different and not fit into the moulds prescribed by society. I have always been the girl running around in shorts and T-shirts, barefoot, climbing trees and riding my bicycle. I loved playing cricket and kicking a rugby ball with the boys. Fancy dresses, ribbons in my hair and anything pink in colour were never my favourites.
As I grew up, I continued breaking the ‘rules’ of being a girl, I wore my hair short, only wore a dress as part of my school uniform and even took up a typically ‘male’ sport when I started Ring Contact Fighting Art and Kickboxing. In primary school I even preferred going to the woodworking class instead of home economics! All of these things contributed to my peers having a lot of opinions about me, but I tried my best not to let them dictate how I live my life.
The truth is, when the occasion presents itself, I do swap my comfy pants and sneakers for a nice dress and shoes, some make-up and enjoy just being a girl.
I believe we are all unique and we should embrace it, we should not allow society to dictate to us what it means to be a woman. No matter what type of woman you are, embrace it and live your life, not to please society, but to please yourself, and always remember this quote by Viola Davis, “Do not live someone else’s life and someone else’s idea of what womanhood is. Womanhood is you.”
Until next week, stay safe and look out for each other …
