Fear as such is viewed by women and girls from completely different angles: for some it is a hindrance that one wants to overcome, but for others it is a driving force. Therefore, it is not important what you feel fear, but what you do with it.
Women's specificity
Almost throughout the entire history of the development of human civilization, a woman was not free. Her body did not belong to her, her labor did not belong to her, her money did not belong to her, her voice did not belong to her.
There is no doubt that today women are better off than ever. Behind us is the generation of our predecessors who fought for their rights, and we take it all for granted. However, when it comes to making decisions, the female voice is disproportionately quiet.
The situation could improve when more women take up leadership positions and are able to speak openly about women's needs and challenges. However, before external barriers are overcome, women face internal barriers.
Self-restraint
We stop ourselves. We live by the attitudes that we received from childhood. We are not taught to defend our beliefs, express our thoughts, show leadership qualities. We ourselves expect little of ourselves. We continue to take on the lion's share of housework, adjust career plans for men and children. We are less likely to apply for high positions and start our own business. It seems that now, when we have both sexual and economic freedom, and the right to vote, we do not have enough inner freedom to finally start realizing our potential, without looking back at anyone and not waiting for someone's approval.
We are afraid to appear outside, because we feel like “impostors”, we continue to play the role of a “good girl”, embodying instead of our own dreams the dreams of others - husbands, children, parents. We sacrifice our own “I” and its potential, because we are afraid that if we cease to be comfortable, we will be rejected by those we love, and this will hurt us.
Our internal barriers are within our sphere of influence. Realizing what exactly we would like to do and what hinders inside us, we can make internal changes on our own: become more self-confident, convince our partners to take on more household chores, not try to be equal to some ideal standards. In the movie "The Secret Dossier" (2017) with Meryl Streep, who plays Kay Cream, owner of the Washington Post, it is very well shown that courage is not about loudness, activity, ambition, demonstrativeness. You can stay soft on the outside and appear in the world as a timid, domestic, quiet woman, but when you need to make very bold decisions that change the world.
