WOMEN.

Women. 5 letters stringing together a word that can mean so much to so many different people – But what does it mean to you? What is the actual definition of a woman to you? Because according to google, the word woman is actually derived from the old English word “wifmon” essentially saying that a woman is just a man’s wife. Do you agree? I mean life’s not that black and white is it? Especially not as much in this century thank God. Maybe it’s time we finally accept that a woman can be who she wants and do as though she wishes and truly support female empowerment – because if we don’t push this movement along into the next generation, who will?

Women. They’re your mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, nieces, friends, the list really does go on and on. But why is it that the courtesy of importance or power does not extend as much to our gender, even though we hold such a significant position in so many different men’s’ lives? Sometimes it seems like we’re only wanted for our talents when it benefits someone else (most often a man) but are shot down when we want to achieve something for ourselves. I should mention if you don't know a little about me already, that I’m a young Bengali girl still hoping the world will accept me for who I am but already at the age of 16, I’ve had people tell me what I’m doing (blogging, youtubing, “modelling” supposedly on Instagram as said by the Bengali aunties) is too out there and well I won’t say too much because this will just turn into a rant post! Anyways, back to women and what they can actually offer to this world, despite some contrary (may I add stupid) beliefs.

I guess wifmon is a very old fashioned word, however I’m not disregarding that women can’t choose to be a housewife in today’s day and age because for some people, a family dynamic is all that they wish for and if it is, I hope that God blesses you when trying to achieve that in’sha’Allah (and for any non Muslim readers, that simply means ‘if God wills’). However if becoming a wife is not what you want, then you should not feel pressured in any way to comply. Do what you wish to do first and then if marriage is in the cards for you, then things will happen naturally, there’s no need to force yourself or feel rushed by your parents or anyone for that fact.

 Women have still got a long way to go to even be on the same level as men, but we can’t deny the fact that we’ve made a lot of progress over the last decade or so in making a name for ourselves if I must say so myself. Now there many businesses founded by women, and large corporations led by women and I may sound overly optimistic but sometimes this is the attitude that you need to have in order to achieve something greater. Female role models can be found in the school environment, the workplace, at home and well nearly everywhere. It’s obvious, if you allow yourself to see past the fact that they’re women.

 Don’t limit yourself to boundaries set in place to stop you from reaching your ultimate potential. Anything is possible if you wish for it (with of course a lot of hard work and dedication) but honestly, dreams can come true and simple thoughts at childhood can become an adult reality, so don’t lose hope if things don’t go your way immediately – good things take time. I thought of something really inspiring the other day and you might find it cringey but it goes, ‘every single day is a different page, every month is a different chapter and every year of our lives is a different book, all a part of the series of our life’ and well I just thought that deep down that meant that nothing can happen by accident, everything and everyone has a purpose and if you believe in God, you’ll accept that God already has a plan set out for us and there’ll be times in life when we face hardship but there’s also a very famous quote “verily with hardship comes ease”. I think it’s very important that people remember that regardless of their religion because it’s still extremely powerful and relevant.

 This post was a bit over the place so sorry about that, but I do still think everything is true and well women need to be appreciated more and of course I’m not promoting that everyone becomes a hardcore feminist activist but more people need to open their eyes and realise that women can bring so much more to the table, you just need to stop being a d**k and give them a seat.

 Thanks so much for reading – I hope you enjoyed it!

I actually wrote this piece to be a part of Aishah Rani's Women Wednesday series on her blog ALL THINGS PALE (here) so make sure you go and check her out! Her insta is: @aishahrani24 (here).

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