Michaela’s Muses: Working women

As we get to the end of Women’s Month, I have been thinking about a few things.

The first thing is the need to have a Women’s Month or even a Women’s Day. It’s a month and day to call attention to women’s achievements without regard to nationality, ethnicity, linguistics, culture, economics or politics.

My problem with it is women’s achievements should be appreciated and celebrated that way anyway. I don’t believe we need a special exception to be celebrated.

Men don’t have a month or day to appreciate their achievements; why do we need one?

I know why, but at the same time I am sad that there has to be a “why.” In a better scenario, women would just be appreciated any day. Unfortunately, many women go through life succeeding without thanks and with more scrutiny. And it is even harder for women of minority groups.

A mistake can mean a career for a woman. Men wouldn’t understand that because a mistake is just a mistake for them. If a woman makes a mistake in her career, people start expecting failure and say that maybe she wasn’t meant for the position. And that “mistake” is usually not that big of a deal. When I say mistake, I am not talking about dropping a couple thousand pound car off of a lift in a mechanic’s shop. Those mistakes should be answered for. No, a mistake in a woman’s world is as simple as forgetting to end a sentence with a period.

If she asks for a day off, it must mean that she isn’t capable of doing her job. I was once told I should start half-time hours because I asked for one Friday on a birthday weekend off. I was working full-time and going to school full-time. I was about to graduate from college, and I just needed one day to take a break from all the hullaballoo. That does not mean I want to start working part-time.

Additionally, if a woman gets mad, and starts crying or expresses frustration, she is deemed emotional. Not emotional in the sense that she is having valid feelings, but emotional in the sense that she is losing it and can’t do her job. So we keep our emotions minimal to try not to be seen as weak.

I know not everyone is like this. I am just saying it shouldn’t have to be like this.

Women are human beings, just like men. All I ask is that people remember that a person’s capabilities are not handicapped because of a mistake, exhaustion or emotions. I also ask that achievements be thanked no matter how small — every day, not just during Women’s History Month and not just on International Women’s Day.

Being a woman is more than a day, a month or a holiday. It is a constant battle to be seen as an equal without people making an exception for it on certain days.