My Tribute to Women on World's Women's Day
When did you begin your life? At conception. And, at that
point, for you to be brought to life, you changed her life – physically and
mostly emotionally. She got sick carrying you in her body. Her hormones
changed, her weight changed, her moods swung, she vomited, she fell sick for
months, her skin stretched, creating marks. And some of these have remained
permanent on her as a testament to your existence. And in many instances she
stopped doing what she loves so can be safe in her body, so you can come out
without deformities. Yes, she worried about you coming out perfectly.
Then she went on what they call labour. The word is not
accidental. It is LABOUR. Hard labour, in which many in her situation,
particularly in countries such as ours, don’t come out alive. I do not know how
it feels to be in labour but what is clear is that the pain went away once you
came out. You were called a bundle of joy. And you left many marks, visible and
non-visible, on her. When you came out, she inspected every inch your body not
so that she can discard you, but so that she can love you more.
Her body was made as it is so that you can come to life.
Nine months in her body, you were protected, you were warm, you were fed – your
body connected to hers through a cord, a cord of life, a cord that has left a
mark on your body to remind you that your existence would not have been
possible without her selflessness.
When you came out, the cord was cut off. But it didn’t mean
that the connection ended. Your food – very first food, the essence of your
nourishment – came from her body. You kept her up at night, you pooped and peed
on her. But you were still a bundle of joy.
As you grew up, you made mistakes, you disappointed her. Why
did she put up with all your mischief? Because she does not want to see the
marks you left on her as a mistake. Because you were and you ARE a bundle of
joy.
Then, after all this, she is still a second-class member of
society, deemed incapable of what other species can do and achieve, unbefitting
of the privileges that males enjoy. You and I need to change this. And what
should be the motivation? The mark on stomachs.
