The Gift of Being a Woman

Every year for the past 50 years women in South Africa has celebrated the 9th of August as Women's Day. It has been declared a public holiday and although white women also take the chance to relax and try to coherce their menfolk into doing something nice for them, it is essentially a celebration amongst black women for "coming into existence" and being recognised for their role in the community to uplift poverty, violence against women and children, recognition for a woman's role in her house, family, community and government.

My blog is not a political blog, so I will refrain from political views and for those of you who are interested in the origin of this day, there are two links at the end of this post you can click on to read more about the history of this day and a few comments on whether women really celebrate this day.

My day and life will go on as usual...it is Saturday so I can sleep a little later than normal and then I will get up and do the usual things I do on a Saturday. If you read my profile, you will see that I am really addicted to my computer (and coffee...lol) so I will spend the day in front of the pc doing what I love to do, BUT deep in my heart I will join all the women in South Africa in celebrating this day and feeling proud that I am a WOMAN!

I do not or actually cannot write flowing verses about being a woman, (I am not a poet) but I know after all my years of living that a woman can change the world by her actions. We suffer, we cry, we become depressed, but we are always able to creep out of the deep, dark holes where we find ourselves many times in our lives. We are able to make a house into a home, we tell our children and husband/partner that we are not hungry when we see that there is not enough meat/food for everybody, we stay without new clothes when they need new ones, we sit up all night when they are ill, we look after our aged parents, grandchildren, people that help us in our homes when we have to work to make a living.

We belong to charities and other organisations, bake and make things to sell at church fetes, listen to our friend's problems, manage the finances and make do with what we have. We are there when our family needs us, we get angry and upset with them, we sometimes raise our voices because we are upset and because we love them, we fear for our own, our children's, our friends' future. However, we are levelheaded enough to realise that we cannot change the world overnight but we can make a difference in a person's life by showing empathy, love, tenderness...

On the other hand, women are not all about taking care of everyone, we have a sense of humour, we are silly, we are bitchy, we are fun, we are like children sometimes, we enjoy a good (naughty... I prefer to call it dry humour) joke, are intelligent, well-educated, know-it-all, goody-two-shoes, baby, daddy's girl, CEO's right hand, business executive...

Maybe Meredith Brooks has summed up the essence of a woman in this song of hers...



Whether you are living in South Africa or not, PLEASE celebrate the fact that you are a woman every day, often.

Link to the history of National Women's Day in South Africa
Link to "Is there anything to celebrate"?

Lastly, many thanks to the author of the lovely poem, I received it by e-mail so do not know where it originated from, but it is beautiful.