Not Good Enough?

One of the most disheartening things I have noticed in my community is that many women, whether well educated or illiterate, do not believe in themselves. It literally breaks my heart to see women who do not believe they are good enough or rather as good as the men are. Case in point: I went to university with a certain lady whom every time a professor asked us to work in groups, she would avoid the “girls’ group” like the plague. Whenever I asked her why she didn’t want to work with us, she would say, “the men always end up doing all the work while I sit back and look pretty.”

Unfortunately, that wasn’t always the case. In fact, she often had to do all the work because the men, knowing that she didn’t believe in herself, knew what buttons to push. I know she would never admit it but what this young lady didn’t know is that she didn’t believe women, including herself, were as bright as men. A certain saying, which I detest by the way, about women being their own worst enemies, comes to mind.

However, I do not blame this young lady. Women today are constantly bombarded with advertisements, magazines, books and even mainstream newspapers informing them that they are not good enough. I mean take a look at some of the books and magazines out there that claim to be written for women, they are all about changing one thing or the other; how to have longer hair/eyelashes; how to act like a man. They all have one thing in common; they are telling women that they aren’t good enough. How about media that tells women they are good enough, for a change?

In my opinion, new media creates a great opportunity for women to build one another’s self esteem. It is an opportunity for us to let women know that they are good enough, as they are. Although, I admit that there is always room for change, I think mainstream media has that covered. In addition, online communities provide an opportunity for women to mentor other women. I can definitely see myself utilizing online communities such as PulseWire to find mentors for young women in my community while publishing articles telling women everywhere that they are good enough, as they are.