Feminism: A Lesson From My Mom
Self-ish March Prompt: What does Feminism mean to you?
Feminism is understanding the value of a woman in nature and in society. Grasping the truth of womanhood and acting accordingly. Knowing that a woman is just another player in Nature’s mix, bound to man but completely different from man. For in society, a woman is no less than or more than a man, she is just different.
I have a mom full of life and smiles, encouraging and supportive. She too bore a blazing fire for female appreciation. She had many boys and her last is a girl. She taught me to cook and clean, to do the shopping, the laundry and to care for my siblings. And so she did for all her kids. There was no man’s work and no woman’s work, there were just chores and people to do them. My brothers and sister were all equal, yet not the same. Different strengths and weaknesses, working hand in glove to ensure proper functioning of the house. Mom said, “where one is weak, the other must support.”
And so it is, in this gender sensitive age. An age in which the rise of womanhood is a stronger reality than the fear that hid its potential and ancient beliefs. Men and women exist on a common plain but with different roles that are complementary in nature. One is meant to hold up the other in times of weaknesses and celebrate the strengths that boil in them. A woman is everything a man is not, present in reality to edify and support. So too is the man. Both must fit like a perfect puzzle because one’s success is the other’s and one’s failure is the other’s as well.
A woman is not equal to a man, equality suggests identicality which is clearly not present. Thus, feminism is a far cry from this perverse doctrine choking the times. The adulterated message poising the globe over. It is not uplifting or augmenting a woman’s value in an attempt to present her as equal to a man, as though she is any less. Feminism is acknowledging the value of womanhood, understanding it and presenting the woman as she truly is; powerful, enduring, affectionate, careful, tender, beautiful, irreplaceable and invaluable amongst others.
The path to the dream of tomorrow is hidden within the doctrine of feminism. A time when the value of a woman is not measured by comparing her to man or weighing her productivity on a man scale. A time when the world fully understands the purpose of her woman, her strengths and her contributions, permitting her to be true to who she is. A time when a woman’s voice stands equal with a man’s, not just in the law courts and/or in theory, but in the hearts of all that live and breathe. For the world has lost so much in its neglect of female potential and has succeeded to levy a cross meant for two on the shoulders of one, the man. Driving him crazy in the process and then hating him for it. Feminism gives a chance to see a world in which the differences that set the genders apart are celebrated in a way that edifies humanity as a whole.
It is not uplifting or augmenting a woman’s value in an attempt to present her as equal to a man, as though she is any less.
It is a fight for both the men and the women, a fight together for a better day for both. It is an opportunity to correct errors of the past, where men gathered alone, fought alone and died alone. Women managed alone, cried alone and sang alone. A choice for the world to make, to knot the cord of togetherness in the gender, celebrating each uniqueness and utilizing every potential for a better tomorrow. It is a chance to journey to the prime age of humanity.
It is a fight for identity, a chance to understand.
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