Whilst self-care is essential for all to maintain good mental and physical health, and we support our male counter parts nurturing themselves completely, men have a history of putting themselves first, whereas women do not.

 

The selfless and subservient trope of a woman, putting her family’s partners, or even societal expectations above her own needs is still very much alive and present today. Even if she is a supremely successful business woman or commended athlete, it often comes at cost. In the words of Florence Given:

 

‘…as a woman in this world, it often feels like we have two choices:  we can either be desired or respected.  Seen or heard.  We rarely get to experience both at the same time.’

 

We still live in a patriarchy whereby the running of society is predominantly set up to benefit men.This system is deeply rooted in misogyny and is historic and entrenched in society, making movement towards gender equality painfully slow. Whilst laws are changing and policies are being made to tackle inequalities, it is simply not happening fast enough. It is important to note that your individual experience as a woman in X country, is not the same as a woman in Y country. Globally women are under represented in positions of leadership, experience tremendous violence at the hands of men and have little to no access to proper education and/ or health products (think period pads).

 

 

The UK is considered a progressive and liberal country, yet on average, women carry out 60% more unpaid work than men (think child care and domestic work), 

 

‘On average men do 16 hours a week of such unpaid work, which includes adult care and child care, laundry and cleaning, to the 26 hours of unpaid work done by women a week.’ - ONS

 

How do women have time to succeed; have full, active and healthy lives, if their needs are perpetually seen as a secondary.

 

It is time women put themselves first, and demand society do the same.