From the beginning of time to the current day, women face constant backlash and are always fighting for something. For instance: currently, in Japan, women are protesting for the right to wear eyeglasses to their jobs. Yes, eyeglasses: the most mundane thing to be fighting for, yet women have to fight for it. From the time of early childhood to all the way in adulthood, womanhood is a difficult experience that people need to recognize and appreciate.
Being a woman takes grit and hard work. From around the age of 8, women are thrown into the world of hard work because of the one thing that begins the whole experience: puberty. Puberty is different for everyone, but females usually start puberty before males.
Puberty usually comes with mood swings, acne and hair, but for females, it comes with a pesky thing called a period. A period is something some girls go through as early as the age of 8 or 9, thus throwing them into the adult world and making them grow up a little earlier than expected. Learning how to change a pad or tampon and dealing with the pain of cramps takes resilience and hard work.
From that pesky period, which is still a nuisance to deal with at the age of 18, to middle, high school and even college, women have to deal with constant body objectification. During those years, women are more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.
Also, media is not helping with the constant symbol of the “ideal woman,” who has changed over the years, but is currently a sex symbol: someone with big boobs and a big butt. The objectification of women is problematic and something women will always have to fight.
There are other complications that carry on into adulthood for women. For instance, the fact that being a woman costs more. The capitalist patriarchy has created something that is known as The Pink Tax, a tax that is placed on women’s products, such as deodorant and shaving materials. The tax is even placed on clothes for baby girls.
The main idea is that women have to constantly put up with people’s ignorance. In dealing with arrogant, misogynistic people in the workplace, and in life in general, it can be tiring. On the one hand, it may be because of plain ignorance, or on the other hand, it could be because people are mean.
In understanding the plight of being a woman, and how for every woman it is different, the world can be a better place for everyone. Women collectively need to stand their ground and understand that they are capable of pulling through anything. Being a woman may be a process, but it’s a process that women need to be proud of. In going through all of this, the key takeaways women can learn about themselves are that they are confident, strong, hard-working and fighters.
Iana Fields is a freshman studying English creative writing at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Iana? Tweet her @FieldsIana.
