Struggles of a Woman

Taking off from a recent conversation with a fellow mother, we both had the same realization: many do not quite understand the roller coaster life of a mother. More often than not, you fall under the scrutiny of other people because you seem to fall short of the criteria of becoming a good mother, wife or homemaker. In a highly traditional society like ours, women are expected to wear several hats: daughter, friend, employee, mother, wife, homemaker and the list goes on.  What they do not realize is that the society lacks enough support to encourage women in fulfilling all these roles. They expect us to juggle all hats when we aren’t left much choices. So we are eventually made to choose one over the other instead. And, sadly, no matter how liberated we consider ourselves to be, the stigma that women are inferior still lingers, and we remain struggling in proving otherwise, especially in the corporate world. Moreover, we are expected to remain domesticated in an economy where a middle-class, one-income-earning household strive to make ends meet.

Yet, we remain steadfast. We empower ourselves to make a better future for us – as a mother, career woman, homemaker. Everything rolled into one. But let’s face it, it gets very tiresome, frustrating, and depressing too. And we are expected to NOT feel bad about it. Those sleepless nights, pressure at work, crying babies, dirty household, laundry, and empty kitchen. And at the end of the day, we are tagged as the nagging wife, and monster mother. When a husband leaves his wife, the woman is blamed for not being a good wife, and a spoiled child is accused to have a foolish mother. 


For most women, as soon as pregnancy begins, they begin to lose themselves and transform into a different person. We bid goodbye to those bodies we took care of for years by hitting the gym and going under various diets (except perhaps for some that have been blessed by good genes or enough resources to be back in tip-top shape after giving birth -- oh I envy you). Hormones take over: We eat and we get moody. Our time is consumed by being a mother or wife and we tend to think of ourselves last. We leave our vices behind. We stop shopping for ourselves. We start losing touch with friends and concentrate on our new roles. We take care of a lot of things and a lot of people. Then again, who takes care of us?

Yes, we think of all these, but at the end of the day, you will be amazed how beautifully we are made. We are resilient and unwavering. Tears fall but are quickly wiped away. We dodge at judgemental eyes. Hearts remain loving and caring. And we refuse to leave our loved ones behind. This is just one of the many beauties of a woman. We strive, and we strive hard. That’s just how we are -- Selfless. God-fearing. Conscientious. This is our daily grind.