Being a woman in 2026

Being born a girl is a breeze. ​Stepping into womanhood is a journey fraught with challenges. ​And most importantly, to remain a woman true to her own spirit is a near-impossible feat.

We live in a world where women are still seen as somehow less deserving than men. ​Work? Same hours, same grind, just a smaller paycheck and a lower rung on the ladder. ​Home? You're on your own, no lifelines, because a moment of vulnerability spells the end.

You have to be an impeccable worker, a homemaker, a loving wife, and often a perfect mother. You have a thousand responsibilities, a thousand commitments, a thousand things to do. You need to have 100 eyes and just as many ears. You can't let yourself go, because that would be a sign of weakness, and showing your weaknesses is wrong; it makes you inferior.

You must always be beautiful, neat, and well-groomed. You must have shiny hair and manicured nails. You must look cheerful; you cannot show that you are tired. Even when you are, you must not let it show.

You have to be thin, but not too thin. If you gain weight, they say you're fat; if you're too thin, they say you look anorexic. If you're too open, they say you look like a prostitute, but if you're closed off, you're a prude. If you rebel, they say you're crazy and ask, “Are you on your period?” But if you keep quiet, you're spineless and don't deserve anything. If you stay at home to look after your family, you're a failure, but if you work and focus on your career, you're a terrible wife and mother. If you want to have children when you're young, you're crazy, but if you want to have them too late, you're a grandmother, not a mother. If you don't want to... That's where the tragedy begins: “What kind of woman are you?”, “You can only be half a woman,” “Who will take care of you?” If you separate, you are a home wrecker, but if you stay in an unhealthy relationship, you are a poor martyr and they ask you, “Why are you doing this to yourself, poor thing?”

It is often exhausting. This constant pursuit of perfection, this tendency to always be impeccable and invincible, makes life a constant struggle against oneself. And in the end, you find yourself becoming the product of your stress, your anger, your worries accumulated over time: you stop being a person and start being a collection of unspoken words, unexpressed anger, and unprocessed stress. The people you love become almost enemies: I have to take care of my family, but my family is causing me additional stress (along with a lot of joy, mind you). My boss is an adversary: he feeds me but at the same time takes up most of my time and causes me further fatigue. My husband? I love him, but he too often needs attention, care, and love, and this makes him another obstacle to my peace of mind. It's terrible to say, but in the long run, that's how it is.

The truth is that we have been taught that asking for help is a sign of weakness: nothing could be further from the truth. On the contrary, it is often a sign of strength: admitting that you have a problem, that you need help to overcome it, that you have limitations, means that you know yourself very well and are a resilient and mature person.

Women, don't be afraid to say, “Enough,” “I can't do it,” “I can't take it anymore.” Don't be afraid to admit that you can't do everything on your own, that you're not invincible, that you too can break down. You may fall, and you may fall many times, but remember that if you ask for help as soon as you stumble, you will get back up immediately and perhaps find yourself only a little bruised. But if you remain on the ground, helpless and in pain, getting back up will become more and more difficult with each passing day. And you will find yourself with wounds that are very difficult to heal.