I am not just a woman

I never really questioned why it was most men who pioneered so many things, just as we were taught in school, until I watched this:

Why do women struggle to get the credit they deserve?

From experience, there were times when I was expected to side-step and take on a support role by default—like every woman should. And there were times that I had to assert my way when men dismissed me not because of my inability but because I was a woman, as if being a woman was a handicap.

Somehow, I am fortunate to be now surrounded by peers who see me and respect me as a person, allowing me to explore and have a voice even when I am a woman working in a male-dominated field.

My colleague told me that women shouldn’t be underestimated because there are things that most women excel at. One thing I have in mind is our ability to work on so many things in succession, like doing our jobs while taking on the role of a wife, a mother, and a housekeeper all in one day. And one study explains why: “women were more organised under pressure.”

I’m beginning to embrace the fact that I am not just a woman. I am a woman.