THEY SAID
Oh my god, she dresses like a prostitute THEY SAID,
is she going to work or to Chichinia?
Why doesn’t she take care of herself more, THEY ASKED,
she should dress up more and put some make up on.
Poor children THEY WHISPERED,
she is pursuing her career and not focusing on being a mother.
What a pity, THEY SAID,
she has a Master’s degree and now she is “just” a stay at home mom.
She is too skinny THEY RANTED,
she should eat something.
Why is she eating, THEY ASKED,
she is obviously overweight?
What a shame THEY SHOUTED,
her mother is not breastfeeding her.
Ara, how old is that boy, THEY ASKED,
I can’t believe she is still breastfeeding him.
She is too arrogant THEY SAID,
telling everyone her opinion.
She cannot stand up for herself THEY JUDGED,
being quiet and shy.
She must be a gold digger, THEY GUESSED,
being with this older man.
She must be a sugar mama, THEY SAID,
being with this younger man.
She is too selfish THEY CLAIMED,
not working on her marriage.
She is too weak THEY SAID,
not leaving her abusive husband.
She is too pretty, too ugly, too kind, too self-centred, too loud, too quiet, too worried, too careless, too tall, too short…THEY SAID…
THEY…were all women.
We are constantly judged based on our age, our looks, our jobs, our choices, our skin color, our marital status, or on how we raise our children.
And not only by men BUT by other women!
So I say, IF we don’t support and empower each other how can we expect that from men?
IF we don’t cherish and love each other, how can we hope that from men?
Therefore, please dear ladies…
Be kind to the traffic police woman,
you don’t know how many chauvinist remarks she heard behind her back on her way to work.
Be patient with your waitress,
you don’t know how many toddler wars she has lost before 9am.
Be supportive to the mom, who drops her child at daycare wearing her pyjamas,
you don’t know how many times she woke up last night to sooth her baby.
Smile at the beautiful woman walking on the street,
you don’t know how hard she has worked to get in shape.
Lend a hand to your female colleague, who is often late,
you don’t know how afraid she is to take a minibus because she is always harassed.
Show admiration to the sexy woman on the dance floor,
you don’t know how hard she fought to be independent.
Let’s always give each other the benefit of the doubt and
instead of prejudice, let’s encourage and empower each other.
We met (consciously) at a crazy new year’s eve part when we were five years old.
xanderi 