Respect for Women

by Abida Ali (Kampala, Uganda)

Since the olden times, women were always seen to be of less importance in the society and trust me, I have no clue why. Maybe it was because their role as women were seen to be very shallow and that they do not become the “heirs” of their family. And when they marry, they no longer keep their father’s name continuing. And of course, as for men, they always want to be known by their names and what possession they hold. In a judgmental society like ours, everyone believes that women cannot be heirs of their family. This is completely not true. How can we even prove for this to be true?

Throughout the years, women have been degraded and underestimated for everything they try to do. In such a society, we need to appreciate the efforts of a woman. People judge women for being so weak and timid while in real life, they can be stronger than the strongest man on earth. Yes, they may be physically weak but mentally and emotionally, women can bear more burden than men can. In this generation, since gender equality is seemed to have widely been practiced, the importance for women should be highly considered too.

In our society, women are taken lightly because we think that they do not have the potential to control anything. They are judged to be too emotional therefore they cannot easily make decisions with a clear mind. This may be true in some cases but it doesn’t give the right to anyone to mock the women of this society. We have seen so much oppression that happens to women to the extent that they have lost their voices. When they try to stand for their rights, it is taken as such a mere thing because oh! Its men who rule the world. Actually, it is women who make our society strong and it is their right that they have to be respected no matter what the case. Women are being judged daily on how they look, what they say, what they wear and it doesn’t stop. Our society has become so ill minded that if a woman is fat, it’s a problem, if she’s thin, then she’s anorexic. Society has made women the target of being oppressed and judged. Also, as a community, we really need to take a stand. Women are way more important than they are considered to be, as William Golding has put it “I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men. They are far more superior and have always been.”

Furthermore, men need to consider the decency of women. It is against the modesty of a women for a man to say anything inappropriate only because they find it funny. In the current times, the world has grown so much out of shame that men oppress women by raising their hand on them, abusing them, sexual assaults and it has even gone to the point where if a woman is raped, her way of dressing is judged. If a man wants his satisfaction to be fulfilled, he would rape a woman even if she was wearing layers of clothes to cover herself. And what is worse, nobody says anything. And why? Because they are afraid that they will be judged. They are afraid that they will not be listened to. Our society needs to stop judging women based on their appearance. We need to start looking at women with great respect. We need to understand that their worth is priceless and nothing in this world should stop them from achieving their dreams.

There is nothing in this world that will ever give you the price of a woman. And for all the men out there reading this right now, there is one thing that should always be remembered, “How cheap can such a man be. He comes from a woman, gets married to a woman, and the same woman he marries, may give birth to a woman, and yet he decides to disrespect the women of the society?” There is a whole day dedicated to women on the 8th of March just to spread awareness and appreciate everything a woman can willingly do, just to make herself, her family and the society happy. We shouldn’t discriminate women for being so weak just because men are physically stronger. If men are so strong, then where are those men who insult and abuse their sisters and mothers instead of standing up for them? Can we call such men strong if they do not have any respect for the woman who brought them into this world while bearing a lot of pain?

We as a community, we need to show high levels of respect for any woman, whether it is a little girl or an old lady, or a teenager. All women are the same and they need to be treated with great care and affection to show that yes, women can be and should be respected at all times. If a woman speaks, she has surely made a difference in many people’s lives. Just the way Brigham Young has said “You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation!”

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