Womanhood Is Self-Defined

To me, being a woman is about being strong and challenging the notion that you are supposed to be in a specific box; defying convention and getting out of the typical traditional roles that were set for women. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a traditional woman who has a family and is nurturing and cleans the household.

But for me, I am not limited to these roles. Womanhood is self-defined because of course I want a family and children, but I also want to have my own company and a career. What’s wrong with doing both?

Being a woman requires a lot of strength. Whether we like it or not, women are second-class citizens. We will always have to work twice as hard.

So much is expected of women. We have this pressure to not only meet expectations but exceed them to prove that we can do more and get out of the box.

Not only that, but it’s hard to reach your goals when you see other women trying to break each other down. It’s so sad. But the reality is that we live in a male-dominated culture.

If you have certain goals, you need to put yourself in a position where you will succeed. You need to be emotionless and do what you need to do to be successful. In my opinion, women are not naturally ruthless in this circumstance, but our society has shaped us to climb our way to the top.

In Tanzania, women empowerment is very strong. Is women empowerment as a topic supported by our society? Not so much.

We are very traditional people. However, the community of women who support each other to go above and beyond is very strong. Women especially support each other to be their own boss and become business owners in agriculture.

My personal take on women empowerment is women supporting other women to reach their goals, by any means necessary. I personally believe that some men are intimidated by what women can accomplish when we support each other. However, women cannot allow any external forces to blur our vision, or influence what our aspirations are.