Why the Woman Who Does Not Require Validation From Anyone Is the Most Feared Individual on the Planet | Mohadesa Najumi
I have lost count of the amount of times I’ve been told that I am “too assertive”. It starts off with friendly smile and a seemingly caring comment about how what I am saying is correct, but how I express it is the problem. I have thought a lot about how I can alleviate my methodology of communication so I do not come off as “assertive” and I’ve wondered about why it is even a problem in the first place. It took me a long time to realise that my confidence is not the problem; society is.
As a woman, I have always noticed how my words bear a heavier burden than my male colleague or counter-part. They call me “feisty” and they label him as “confident”. It is a mystery why women today are still characterised by their emotion and not their rationality. In her fantastic book “Delusions of Gender” Cordelia Fine writes about how discrimination against women extends far beyond something we read about in history books, It is something blatant and evident even in our modern, developed societies. Despite the fact that there is no solid, irrefutable evidence to suggest that men and women are wired differently, the world continues to push gender stereotypes down our throats and we suffer collectively as a result.
Women in general are so undermined in today’s world and harassed from every corner- the beauty industry, archaic traditions, media and the government. It is very hard for women to be confident in their own skin. Not only do most women feel physically inadequate, but we are constantly silenced and trivilaised. The great documentary “Miss Representation” highlights how women are terrorised from their teen years onto their adulthood through the realms of mass media and popular culture.
Even an individual as authoritative as Hillary Clinton is discriminated against and treated as an emotional being who is defined through her husband and not by her intelligence and incredible skills as a leader. I mean for goodness sake, if the U.S Secretary of State cannot demand the respect of the world, what hope is there for the rest of us women?