Lately, I’ve been experiencing misogyny at an all time high. 

I get it, I really do—I’m a Black woman in America, and the ethnic communities that are meant to define me are a cesspool—but it’s bad.

I can handle the occasional loaded comment, but lately feminist rhetoric is being thrown back in my face to make me feel inferior.

In order to be ‘of use’ as a woman, I have to be the most successful at my profession, and I’d be best served as someone who puts themself through the winger to get a degree in a competitive field that I could care less about.

It’s one thing to be told that women are natural homemakers as though we weren’t forced into that role without much of a choice for centuries, but to use the stress that’s brought from breaking this stereotype to argue that modern feminism is a ‘hoax’ is kind of blasphemous.

And a lot of that misogyny is thinly veiled under the guise of ‘concern’ for women overextending themselves or feeling the need to prove themselves. 

Thanks for the concern, but it’s disingenuous in nature and insulting to those who dedicate their lives to making things happen.

The whole point of this notion that we are equal is our ability to decide whether we want to be engineers and attorneys and actresses or stay-at-home mothers. 

There’s nothing against any of those avenues, but when women have to work just as hard as men only to be told that they should opt for the ‘less stressful route’, it only further reinforces the ideas that have been perpetuated for this long.

That being said, a ton of work goes into not having a conventional job at an office or in a community setting. Most homemakers assume the roles of planners and have to stretch themself thinly to serve as chauffeurs, chefs, cleaners and whatever else they have to do to keep the flow of their lifestyle intact.

This is why it’s even harder for me to believe that so many people believe women should refrain from entering high-stress, high achievement professions. If they’re experiencing the same level of stress in or out of the workplace, are you really uncomfortable with their treatment, or that when they endure that stress, it has no benefit to you?