First, I need to apologize for using the word normalised in the title. I think it is one of the top ten over used words in the year 2020. I want to read this post in five years and be nostalgic when I see the word normalised.

Sometimes I think being a woman is synonymous to struggle. I mean there are some amazing things that we women experience and I love being a woman but we also go through unbearable things daily and still manage to boss up and act like everything is normal, I respect that a lot. A lot of eventful things happened this past weekend and I think its only fitting to have this post up to honour women and draw more attention to some struggles we still face.

A great woman died on Friday, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she was goals literally. A fighter, a leader, an icon. Some of the achievements and victories she won for women includes helping women secure the right to sign mortgage without a man, open a bank account without a male co-signer, have a job without being discriminated based on gender, have kids or be pregnant whilst at a job. She achieved so many other things and she is worthy of emulation, I pray she rests in peace.

Also, this weekend women in Afghanistan, were granted the right to have their names included on their children’s birth certificate. While in Botswana, married women now have right to own land. I think they should have happened years ago, but progress is being made and that makes me so happy.

Now let us address some struggles and challenges women still face. I do not know why sick period days are not yet a concept. Imagine going through cramps and having to go to work and act like everything is normal. Nothing about period pain is normal for some people like me.

The unexplained pay gap between male and females makes no sense to me. Men most times earn more than women for carrying out the same duties. The way I see it, if you can get the job done then you deserve the pay. Why should men be paid more? I can never understand this.

It is unfortunate that women still get sexually harassed all the time. Just this weekend, a lady on Twitter said some guy grabbed her breast, this is embarrassing and uncalled for. I read a lot of stories of how women have to go the extra mile to protect themselves from predators and perverts all the time. It is such a shame that we have to suffer so much for being the weaker sex.

There are a lot of men out there that cheat on their wives or girlfriends after childbirth because they now have stretch marks. I can never understand this as it is natural, and it is beyond the woman’s control. Any man that makes a woman feel vulnerable because she has stretch marks should be ashamed.

At least in first world countries, there is a level of joint effort when it comes to home caretaking. In developing countries, it is a different ball game. Imagine going to work all day and coming home to cook, clean etc. This is the reality of so many women. The men on the other hand, go to work, come back home, and take time to relax. Sadly, the women comes home to resume her second shift of work. I find it sad and disgusting. The men will still have the audacity to demand for sex later and if she refuses, they either get it from her through force or begin to plot ways to get it from other women outside.

The fact that men make the decisions in serious matters like reproduction, abortion and the likes still amazes me. It is too much of a responsibility that men that do not experience things like menstruation, pregnancies, complications in childbirth are the decision makers of these issues. In my opinion, men making these decisions trivialises the issues. There are so many other points to be made but by now, I am sure we get the gist.

We women for the most part have accepted that these things are normal and just find a way to work around the struggles. I hope we do not give up and always find every opportunity to speak out till We are treated with the respect we deserve. I know there is a saying that it is a men’s world, but we can make it a woman’s world too by being kind and treating women like human beings. we have a long way to go but it would require a collective effort from everyone.

 Feel free to leave a comment below and thank you for reading.