The Cruel Irony of Being a Woman in Modern Society

Dogs get better treatment than women. Let that sink in. People see a dog on the street and coo over it, protect it, cherish it as family. But a woman? We're reduced to our parts, our uses, our ability to serve. We're vessels for children, caretakers of homes, objects of desire until we're "too old" – then we're disposable. We're either mothers or we're nothing, but even as mothers, we're never enough.

Look at how society treats fathers versus mothers. A man struggles with his kids at the grocery store and strangers rush to help, praising him for "babysitting" his own children. "What a wonderful father," they say, for doing the bare minimum. But a woman with the same struggle? She's failing. She's incompetent. She should have everything under control because that's her "natural role." The data exposes this double standard: mothers spend an average of 97 minutes more per day on childcare than fathers. In dual-income households, women still perform 65% of childcare duties and 72% of housework. When both parents work remotely, studies show mothers are interrupted 50% more often by childcare demands.

The hypocrisy is staggering. Men depend on women for everything – cooking, cleaning, laundry, emotional labor, child-rearing – yet mock these very tasks as insignificant. Remove a woman from the equation and suddenly these "simple" domestic duties become insurmountable challenges. But heaven forbid we point this out. Heaven forbid we expect men to be equal partners in their own homes, with their own children.

The workplace is no better. Women climb the corporate ladder through merit, determination, and often twice the effort of their male counterparts, only to face whispers: "She must have slept her way to the top." The numbers tell the brutal truth: women hold only 28% of executive positions at S&P 500 companies, while making up 47% of the workforce. In 2023, women lost jobs at nearly twice the rate of men during layoffs, despite higher average education levels. For every dollar a man makes, women earn just 84 cents – dropping to 63 cents for Black women and 55 cents for Hispanic women.

A staggering 64% of women report experiencing workplace harassment, yet 72% of those incidents go unreported due to fear of retaliation. Now, with DEI programs under attack, we're watching doors slam shut that we fought decades to open. The cost of living soars – average childcare costs now exceed $10,000 per year in most states – making dual incomes necessary, yet society simultaneously demands we be full-time homemakers.

And our bodies? They're apparently public property. If we use surrogacy – a legal, compassionate choice between women – we're criticized for "exploiting women's bodies." The same voices that demand we be mothers condemn us for finding alternative paths to motherhood. Meanwhile, 1 in 6 couples faces infertility, and the average cost of IVF exceeds $20,000 per cycle, with surrogacy costing upwards of $100,000 – yet insurance coverage remains spotty or nonexistent in most states.

If we lose a pregnancy, we're not just mourning – we're potential criminals. Since 2006, over 1,700 women have faced criminal investigations or arrests related to pregnancy outcomes. Women are literally dying because doctors now fear helping during miscarriages might violate abortion bans – maternal mortality rates in states with strict abortion bans have increased by 28% in recent years. We're investigated like criminals for a natural process that affects up to 20% of pregnancies, with Black women facing three times the risk of pregnancy-related death compared to white women.

Image Credit: Midjourney AI

The religious hypocrisy cuts deep. They selectively quote verses like "wives, submit to your husbands" (Ephesians 5:22) and "women should remain silent in the churches" (1 Corinthians 14:34) to justify our oppression. But they conveniently ignore the full context: the same passage in Ephesians commands men to "love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" (5:25) – a radical call for sacrificial love and service, not dominance.

They ignore how Jesus consistently elevated women in a patriarchal society. He spoke publicly with the Samaritan woman (John 4), defended the woman caught in adultery (John 8), accepted financial support from women followers (Luke 8:1-3), and first appeared to women after his resurrection – making them the first witnesses of Christianity's foundational event. Paul, often misquoted to suppress women, declared that in Christ there is "neither male nor female" (Galatians 3:28) and praised women leaders like Phoebe, Priscilla, and Junia.

We weren't created from Adam's rib to be his servant – the Hebrew word "tsela" means "side" or "supporting beam," indicating equality and partnership. Genesis 1:27 states clearly: "God created mankind in his own image... male and female he created them." Equal in dignity, equal in divine image. The Proverbs 31 woman, far from being submissive, was a property owner, business entrepreneur, and respected leader. We came from God, not from man. We were created to complete humanity, not to entertain or serve men.

When we speak up about any of this, we're labeled as man-haters. But pointing out toxic behavior isn't hate – it's a desperate call for change. When men act in ways that degrade, diminish, and dehumanize women, yes, that behavior is bad. We're not raising boys to be partners. We're not teaching them that masculinity means responsibility, respect, and equal participation in life's duties. Instead, we're continuing cycles that hurt everyone – women directly, and men by stunting their emotional and practical growth.

The economic burden of simply existing as a woman is staggering. The "pink tax" isn't just a catchy phrase – it's a crushing reality. We pay up to 42% more for identical products just because they're marketed to women. Razors, shampoo, deodorant – slap some pink packaging on it and watch the price soar. The same soap in "feminine" packaging costs an average of $1.50 more than its "masculine" counterpart.

And our periods? They're treated like a luxury. The average woman spends $1,800 on menstrual products in her lifetime – products we literally cannot function without. Despite being necessary medical items, many states still tax them as "non-essential goods." We're literally paying extra for our bodies' natural functions that enable human reproduction. Even modern period products barely innovate because research funding goes elsewhere – we're still using technology from the 1930s while men get multiple varieties of erectile dysfunction medication covered by insurance.

The medical discrimination is even more enraging. When women report chronic pain, we're told it's "just stress" or "all in our heads." Women wait an average of 65 minutes longer than men to receive pain medication in emergency rooms. It takes an average of 7-10 years to diagnose endometriosis, a condition affecting 1 in 10 women, because doctors dismiss our pain as "normal period cramps." Yet men get prescribed painkillers at significantly higher rates for the same conditions.

Want to talk about the contraception double standard? Women endure invasive IUD insertions without pain management – a procedure that can cause pain comparable to early labor contractions. Meanwhile, men receive general anesthesia for a vasectomy that takes 15 minutes. We bear the physical, emotional, and financial burden of preventing pregnancy while research for male birth control stalls because men "couldn't handle the side effects" – the same side effects women have dealt with for decades.

Women are 50% more likely to be misdiagnosed after a heart attack. We're told weight loss will fix everything from joint pain to breathing problems, only to discover years later we've been living with undiagnosed autoimmune diseases or cancer. "That's just aging," they tell us when we report symptoms, while men get testosterone replacement therapy and comprehensive treatment plans for the same complaints. Medical research has historically excluded women from drug trials, using male bodies as the default – then acting surprised when medications affect us differently.

The cruel irony is that society needs women more than ever – as workers, as mothers, as leaders, as innovators – yet continues to treat us as less than human. We deserve better than being valued less than pets. We deserve to be seen as full human beings, capable of both great achievements and natural human struggles. We deserve partners, not masters. We deserve respect, not submission. We deserve to live in a world where being born female isn't a sentence to a lifetime of justifying our existence.

Until society acknowledges these fundamental truths – until we raise better men, create better systems, and demand better treatment – nothing will change. But we won't stop fighting. We won't stop speaking up. We won't accept being treated as less than dogs in a world we help build and maintain. We are not here for your convenience. We are here because we have every right to be, as full and complete human beings, deserving of the same respect, dignity, and autonomy that every human deserves.