Women who were taught to walk on eggshells

If I wrote a book, it would definitely be about women. Of course it would be about women.

The women who were taught to walk on eggshells.

They were always careful, almost afraid to make a sound, to let their presence be fully felt. Because women, they were told, must be seen only and not heard. Remember that.

But these women decided that enough was enough.

They resisted what they were taught.

If I wrote this book, I would write about how they finally realised that the only way out was to crush the eggshells, not tiptoe around them. They stomped on them and didn’t care if they made noise. They wanted to be heard.

So they resisted.

They pursued education at a time when girls were only supposed to aspire to marriage. They charted paths that were originally intended for men; in engineering, in medicine, in academia and politics. They too wanted a piece of the pie and they would not let anything deter them.

If I wrote a book I would write about the women who were taught silence but chose to speak up, to write, to amplify their voices. They confronted the topics they were taught to sweep under the carpet; about their bodies, their autonomy and their ambition.

They had learnt that silence did not protect them, it contained them. 

So they broke the silence.

Of course they faced opposition, they still do even now but they won’t be deterred. They watched their aunties, mothers and grandmothers and decided to be different. They loved these women too much to inherit their silence and limitations.

And yet, these women were also taught another contradiction: be strong, but never rest, carry everything but never appear tired. So they resisted and chose to rest when they were tired. This in itself was an act of defiance. What do you mean a woman can wake up at 9am? That is unacceptable! But these women chose that which was deemed unacceptable. They realised it was not abominable to rest, it was necessary.

Still, the resistance continued.

They learned to say no to places, people and situations which did not serve them. They finally understood that no was a complete sentence, not an invitation for negotiation.

If I wrote this book I would definitely write about these women, again and again because they are not a single story, but stories bound together by a defiance to not be reduced to anything less than what they were made to become.

They are women who were taught to walk on eggshells yet decided to crush the eggshells. Boldly. This story has been living inside me because it is a reminder that sometimes resistance is necessary. It is the only way to freedom. A life spent walking on eggshells is not a life well lived.

#WinterABC26