Women's struggle is not their weakness

When people mention women in action-packed situations, they often use the words "fragile" and "pathetic." Like we're glass that might - no. WILL break at the smallest nudge. But you know what is fragile? Pathetic? Their egos. They have never said out loud how much we've had to carry, whether you're a teenager or an elder. How much weight sits on our shoulders every single day? Whether you're a staple to society or not, stereotypically a mom, wife or nurse, it will never be enough.

I think about the girls who walk home with keys between their index and middle finger. Oh no! Not because they're scared of the dark, but because of what's lurking in it. Of the girls who were told: "dont wear that!" instead of telling boys "dont touch her without consent!" How come we are taught to be cautious before we even walk yet majority of boys are told what to do and what to not AFTER commiting heinous acts? 

Assault isn't just a word we whisper. It's a memory branded into many women's skin. And when we do speak up? We're questioned, shamed, blamed. Is trauma only valid when it's never spoken about? And when we do stay silent, we are labelled as weak and cowardly, that we SHOULD stand up for ourselves, and being quiet is the reason why we have such an unstable power in society. Double standards are hard to face, yet when you get even a crumb of backlash from a woman, it's suddenly the end of the world. Violence against women is not a rare event. Its an epidemic. It lives behind closed doors, in the streets, it's in the bruises concealed with the makeup you claim that makes us look "fake", yet when we don't wear any, we are too lazy..? It's in the silence between two friends who know each other's experiences by heart - but cannot say it out loud.

And then there's the way we are looked at when we want MORE - not just safety but RESPECT. When we aim high in school/work, we're told we are too ambitious, too loud. Too bossy. In some countries, girls are told that education isn't a necessity - that marriage is the way to a perfect life! In others, we are given classrooms but denied authority. We're taught to obey before we're ever allowed to read. Women have built the bridge you walk on, fought in wars, yes, wars if you ever paid attention, it's not only men, invented life-saving tech you can't even name yet depend on. But you still leave us out the story. Hey, you may even be wondering why is a teenager writing about this when she has JUST started life, what has she suffered? If you ever understood you would realise I am arguing for MY future, other childrens future and even the people in the past that never got the apology they deserved. Hey, you may even argue that you never see such things happen around YOU, but that doesn't mean it never happens to anyone else.
So no - we were never fragile glass.

We are iron dressed in cotton, we are strength made of empathy, power made of care, we are the ones who stand back up after being pushed down again and again. We are the mothers of revolution and the daughters of silence. 

I want a world where girls dont have to apologise for surviving. I want a world where we're not told to smile while being discriminated against. I want a world that stops asking women to prove they're human. 
Because we are.
And we always have been.