While thinking for what I could write for my fellow female travellers on this journey today. What topic to pick , I came across the quote ” A woman is like a tea bag—you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.” —Eleanor Roosevelt.
“A strong woman understands that the gifts such as logic, decisiveness, and strength are just as feminine as intuition and emotional connection. She values and uses all of her gifts.” —Nancy Rathburn
It triggerred my chain of thought why we call woman strong even though we can also see woman being fragile and docile .
If a woman hasn’t learnt the art of self defense she can’t withstand in the fight with a man , then why are we called as strong ? May be because we have the capacity to nurture a baby and carry them for 9 months . So strength is nothing but quality of being strong . Power to resist force . By this logic all the woman are strong since almost all woman have been harmed , exploited or mistreated by men to an extent be it any part of the world while still maintaining the general loving view towards life and people around her . Nuturer in most of the woman is still alive.But when pages of history will be reopened we will few names written in bold as the woman of strength . let’s explore some names here and see what made them so unique that their names got engraved with gold. With woman known as strong but in different genre. On one hand we have Joan of Arc who was a fighter, soldier and a noble woman and on another hand we have Marilyn Monroe who was the face of epitome of beauty and fantised by all men . If the fantsy was the end result why don’t we know about Lady Godiva . Wait before you say who is she ? She was the one who when provoked by her husband that he will only listen to her when she walks on streets of town naked and did so. She has also shown the courage to do so that in way back twelfth century. Way before Marilyn did so and list her name never appears in the list of strong women. So when we talk about strength , people don’t see and talk strength in average. So when we see lot of skin show in today’s world this is not the mark of the strong woman but it’s way more than what meets the eyes.
It is more of the inner strength and not be compared with men because have different scenarios to deal with and have different needs also . Strong woman builds , supports , love and care . A strong woman is one who is able to reflect on life , guide and protect
With this definition I hope we all choose to be strong woman who support and build each other even scratch each other’s back if required but never to snatch the crown from other person.
“A strong woman understands that the gifts such as logic, decisiveness, and strength are just as feminine as intuition and emotional connection. She values and uses all of her gifts.” —Nancy Rathburn
Nicely written Bhoomi and beautiful expression… but all the definitions of being strong are what society tells us to be…Why strong women needs to love and care or guide and protect? Why can’t a strong woman just be independent and follow her dreams for herself and herself alone rather then being then labelled as Selfish? A strong woman I believe may not be educated or trained in self defence or an epitome of beauty, but independent enough to realise freedom as her right, not shackled down by the version of society how she should be, freedom to build her own destiny, freedom to follow her dreams, freedom to be Selfish, freedom to quit when she wants to change her path rather than being labelled as Quitter or continuing to suffer proving herself to be brave with resilience….. I feel strong woman is the one who protects her freedom to be whatever she wants to be…
Hi Bhavna , First of all thanks for the comment … I always meant to first love , care and guide herself then if she wants she can do it for others choice is her. In my eyes both the woman Joan of Arc and Marilyn Monroe both did what society wasn't expecting them to do …. what are saying is woman's right which will be on next topic to make it more clear something on feminism and how it's her basic right which everyone should get… if can't choose herself first how can we say she loved herself once you love yourself you can love others otherwise we are all attached and acting needy in my eyes … Not from place of love but need which makes you try to fit in society and a strong woman does what is right to her conscious and what is her truth .. But it was written when I was discussing with somebody while I respect one female not another .. may be the very reason of the action defines the strength … Like … Both Marilyn and Lady Godiva both were skin showing but why people call Marilyn more courageous so there is more than what meets the eyes .. That feminine energy that we have as woman can be used as our strength … While one protects her own freedom will be her basic right just wait for my next blog … It is like in the world of showbiz we call Priyanka Chopra or Sushmita Sen or Nora courageous woman while rakhi Sakhwant or Malika sherwant a weak woman … While both have right to choose what they want to but very core defines whether you are strong or an average. And strong woman with load of love for herself is one I wanted to project… Hope my next article will help you find the answer… When you were born to be Sushmita Sen do not try to compare yourself with Ash around the world and lower your standards.. Sushmita had to fight to adopt a child in India while Ash did everything what normal people did but on her own terms… she may be loved by all but to be strong you must have the strength to face world with feminine energy i.e. love, guiding and nurturing also … If you are true to yourself you can do that … I hope I have given you the answer here but more on my next blog to clarify who is true feminist and why some people avoid it
Bhavna you are one example of a strong woman in my eyes btw 🤗 You always did what was right with a loving state and never from revenge or hurt …