A DEDICATION TO WOMEN

Melinda Gates said, "A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult."

While reflecting on the purpose of Mother's Day, I was thinking about my mum and how much she influenced who I am today; I remember being so deep in my thought, thinking about how she would react if she were referred to as a birth parent, never in my wildest imaginations did I think that the concept on womanhood will be up for debate. However, that is the situation we find ourselves in today.

While some people will disagree with this argument, I see women's rights being infringed on like never before. We live in a time when the concept of womanhood is misappropriated and up for debate, and there is an attempt to redefine what it means to be a woman. For instance, it is suggested that biological women be classified as CIS women or womxn. And there have been some trials for the word mother to be replaced with a birth parent and maternity leave to be replaced with parental leave. The one that left me laughing was the proposal to replace breastfeeding with chestfeeding. The ridiculousness of the term is out of the world, especially when women can't feed a child with their chest. There is a reason why it is called breastfeeding in the first place; that is because the breast produces and holds the milk, not the chest.

I understand the need to be gender inclusive, especially for people who identify as non-binary, but that should not encroach on the right of biological males and females who prefer to be called mothers/women or fathers/men. More alarming is that women affected by this are left out of the discourse. This is evidenced by a news article where a new mother was offended after being handed a hospital form that referred to her as a "birthing parent" instead of a Mother. Of course, this is a contemporary discourse, and the technicalities have not been fully developed, but I fear that if women remain silent and do not speak up, the new label will be the norm.

Women have been striving to be seen for their worth in society for the longest time, which gave rise to the birth of various feminist movements. But before the rise of the feminist movement, there was an account in the bible of a woman called Mary, who defied the norm where it was only heard of Jesus's disciples sitting at His feet to listen to his teaching. When it was expected that the place of woman was in the kitchen and her sister was dutifully carrying out her duty, Mary sat at Jesus's feet to hear his teaching, and she got approved of her act (Luke 10:38-42). At that moment, she made history by being the first female disciple of Jesus. She did not wait to be given the opportunity; instead, she seized it.

There has been an argument that due to the patriarchal system, women have had to work twice as hard to be seen, but if we refer back to Proverbs 31 woman in the bible, I think that it is not an issue of women working twice as hard, instead, it is the resourcefulness that comes with being a woman that makes her stand out. Women see opportunities and take them regardless of the opposition we face.

Also, naturally, women are caregivers and nurturers to family and friends, And regardless of where we find ourselves, that instinct always kicks in, and we want to jump in and take care of the people in our lives. And sometimes, we get caught up in the labels associated with us, such as Mother's daughters, wife, and sister, and we forget that before, we were all those labels, we are God's children, and those labels don't define us. Instead, our value comes from being who God says we are. Jeremiah 1:5a Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; And sometimes, we tend to get worried trying to fulfill the duties associated with the labels that we fail to relax and bask in the love of God and be His daughter.

So on this Mother's Day, I want to appreciate all the women who constantly pour into people, their families, friends, colleagues, and people around them. You are seen, you are loved, you are appreciated.

Enjoy and see you in the next post.

Much love,

Victoria