Even when we have performed as well as a man if not better, over and over again, women are still kept down. When leveraging the best knowledge, skills and abilities can only elevate a society, why are women considered second class? Are we so strong that the rest of the world is afraid of us and needs to suppress our success? Is the world afraid of women because of our superpowers?
The world tells us 24/7 that we aren’t good enough. Our weight will never be good enough, and wrinkles make us undesirable, regardless of the age of the male species critiquing us. In 2015, the Geena Davis Institute on Women in the Media stated women made up only 24 per cent of the persons heard, read about or seen in newspaper, television and radio news despite the fact we are 50 per cent of the population. The myth that “women can’t do math” perpetuates, even though it was disproved in 1989. And though women have also proven we can hold executive and board positions, we still aren’t paid equally.
With this massive weight holding us down, we still jump out of bed, push against all this negative talk, and keep on trying to make the world better. We succeed despite world momentum to keep us down, to keep us in our place.
Not only have we proven we can do almost everything a man can do, we also:
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- Give birth
- Have a better multi-tasking brain than other humans, after having children
- Can walk, run and dance in 3-inch heels
- Develop communal networks that carry information, needs and sizzle faster than the speed of sound.
- Value giving and cooperation far more than historical territorialism
- Outperform men in investing – a traditional male skill. A 2017 Fidelity study found that women actually outperformed men by 40 basis points per year in investing. The study stated “many of the characteristics some view as being inherently female are actually factors that may be helping women see strong returns on their investments.”
As a Financial Therapist, every day I hear the most competent women berate themselves using words they would never ever say to their best friend: “I’m such an idiot,” “I can’t believe I was so stupid,” and on it goes. We have learned to think of ourselves that way from a world that doesn’t value us. Family traditions and deep-seated social norms often don’t prepare women with basic skills to live independently. Here too, we need to push through and just own it, because research has shown women are remarkably good with money, too!
Fellow womankind, I can’t say this often enough. Women are remarkable. Women are strong. Women offer hope in the world. We are so powerful that I think the rest of the world is afraid of us and may keep us down for that very reason. In a world afraid of women, let’s keep rising.
