Strong Women Deserve Protection and Gentle Care Too

        Photo courtesy.

 Early last week I came across an interesting tweet. Let me paraphrase it "Men actually think that calling a woman 'strong' is a compliment. I'm appalled at how quick y'all are to strip women off protection and care. Strong is no longer a compliment but a mental health hazard."
I definitely pressed the like button and left a supportive comment.

It got me thinking.... How many times have I seen strong women in real life and on TV neglected and overburdened with responsibilities that don't concern them just for the sake of that compliment? How many women had to fight for themselves while the men stepped aside or turned their backs on them simply because they are 'strong women'?
It's probably the way we are raised as girls... We are belittled by comments such as "Who is going to love you or marry you if you don't clean dishes, cook, do the laundry or clean your room?" Such comments demean the human in her while raising her in fear of being unloved or valued if she doesn't meet certain conditions yet placing high expectations on her to take care of other people while neglecting herself.
This is one of the reasons most women fear marriage because it's portrayed as burdensome instead of a union of team work, companionship and a relationship that fosters personal growth.

Most of the time, when she decides to open up and be vulnerable she is avoided and told to be the 'bigger person'. 

Want to know why many women stay in abusive marriages or relationships, toxic workplaces and toxic friendships? Because of how society has defined the word 'strong woman' as the woman who can take in the most pain regardless of her mental or emotional health. It has even become some sort of competition of whoever endures the most pain from a spouse is qualified to be recognized as a wife. 😤 

Since when did becoming a loving partner be determined by pain?? How is that enjoyable??

To make it worse, there are men who will proudly praise a 'strong woman' in public but abuse, neglect, take advantage of her compassion and belittle her in private. 😤 And women get used to this such that when they find a man who wants to love and protect her feminine softness, she will do everything possible to sabotage it because that's how her subconscious has been conditioned: That love is pain.

This is my definition of a strong woman: a woman who is self aware, has embraced her feminine softness, has healthy boundaries on her compassion, has accepted her strengths, insecurities and weaknesses and only goes to places where she feels her human side is valued, protected and appreciated.

Final take: To all the women... Get used to being in peaceful healthy relationships where you are treated nicely with the tenderness you deserve.

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#womenempowerment #strongwomen #mentalhealth #personaldevelopment #peraonalhealing