Not independent, just strong. A tale about women

A couple of days ago, I had a short, but interesting conversation with one of my friends. A female friend, to be more specific. She was just installing her computer to do her work, and I noticed that she was struggling. As she was supposed to travel the next days, she concluded that it’s not a big deal because she might be facing the same situation where she is going, so she will have to handle it because, and I quote, she is an “independent and strong woman”. Of course I agreed with her, but not fully.

This is something we hear more and more often from women. Likewise, I might say I was responsible for the same thing. It’s only recently that I’ve realized things might be different.

It is said that independence is a personality trait in which a person consistently prefers to act on his/her own thoughts and feelings than take in the views of others. Sure, we can speak about different types of independence, be it financial, behavioral or emotional. But to what extent?

Humans are social creatures, so I would not say that we are as independent as we think or want to be. Man or women, it doesn’t matter, from the day we are born until we die. Through the course of our lives, we learn to work, we learn to live, we even learn to learn from people. We are the result of other people and we grow with their help. The history of mankind has shown that humans can accomplish the greatest things if they work together.

Strong.. well, that is something that I strongly agree with. As women, we can prove that we are actually stronger then how we were portrayed in those God-forgotten centuries. We have so many examples of strong women, and this is the place where you can find the most of them.

Women are great. As well as men. Despite living in a highly developed society, we are still governed by our primal instincts. In today’s world, what defines a ‘strong’ individual? As extreme physical effort and hunting have long been excluded from defining strength, what is left?

Today, strong means to stand up for yourself; to speak your mind; to be brave in the face of adversities; to take responsibility in your doings; not to be influenced by the opinions of others; to be disciplined and remain motivated no matter what life throws at you. And last, but not least, to be able to ask for help when you need it. But, of course, after you gave your best. ?

yours truly, MADmoiselle