What actions should HR and business leaders take to curb mental harassment at work? Share your thoughts.
Steeped in deep conditioning many women sacrifice their dreams & self-care. This leads to physical & mental exhaustion, regret of dashed dreams & loss of her unique identity.
As care-givers, many women slip into acts that sustain and provide for her family, friends, and colleagues at work. When her husband burns the midnight oil preparing for a critical presentation, the cup of hot chocolate arrives without asking.
She drops her work to patiently listen to the unending woes of a colleague struggling with a micromanaging boss. Locating the missing sock in a pile of clothes, fixing a loose button on the shirt, ensuring the maids maintain an orderly kitchen, be the first to compromise when there are conflicting demands- she is the glue that keeps the family together.
At work, she is quick to detect a change in tone of voice as an indication of hurt or joy. She’s adept at building consensus among her team when perspectives differ widely.
Even though these acts of service consume her time, energy, and mind space they are not something that can be showcased or measured in any way. A young mother complained, “My day is busy, and I get tired by the end of it. But then I wonder if I’ve really achieved anything?” These are invaluable acts that stitch together the fabric of harmony, stability, and order in a unit.
Steeped in deep conditioning that others are more important than her, sacrifice at the cost of self-care becomes her driving force. While there is no denying that many women revel in being the psychological anchor for family and teams; there are costs to it as well. In the fulfilment of her worldly duties, nourishment for her inner-self runs dry.
Over a period, there is physical and mental exhaustion, the regret of dashed dreams and the loss of her unique identity.
To further exacerbate her predicament, is the fact that she rarely gets acknowledged or appreciated by others. In a world where the patriarchal mindset is still pervasive, these qualities are a tacit expectation of a woman. Not one to blow her trumpet, she expectantly awaits a gesture of gratitude and encouragement. Even the slightest note rewards her amply as she finds renewed energy to keep going. However, for many women, these gestures are few and far between.
A woman’s power lies in finding the balance between holding her core and caring for others around her. A few self-protection and self-preservation steps that she needs to adopt to sustain her vitality:
For far too long, women have stayed in the background as compassionate care-givers but silent sufferers.
It’s time to step out, take centre-stage, to nourish her soul and celebrate her uniqueness!
Image source: Still from Ki and Ka
Aparna is a leadership coach and facilitator with over 25 years of cross-functional work experience. She brings with her diverse experience of sales, consulting and facilitation of personal transformation. She has worked with organizations read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
I wanted to scream with excitement that my daughter chose to write about her ambition and aspirations over everything else first. To me, this was one of those parenting 'win' moments.
My daughter turned eight years old in January, and among the various gifts she received from friends and family was an absolutely beautiful personal journal for self-growth. A few days ago, she was exploring the pages when she found a section for writing a letter to her future self. She found this intriguing and began jotting down her thoughts animatedly.
My curiosity piqued and she could sense it immediately. She assured me that she would show me the letter soon, and lo behold, she kept her word.
I glanced at her words, expecting to see a mention of her parents in the first sentence. But, to my utter delight, the first thing she had written about was her AMBITION. Yes, the caps here are intentional because I want to scream with excitement that my daughter chose to write about her ambition and aspirations over everything else first. To me, this was one of those parenting ‘win’ moments.
Uorfi Javed has been making waves through social media, and is often the target of trolls. So who and what exactly is this intriguing young woman?
Uorfi Javed (no relation to Javed Akhtar) is a name that crops up in my news feeds every now and again. It is usually because she got trolled for being in some or other ‘daring’ outfit and then posting those images on social media. If I were asked, I would not be able to name a single other reason why she is famous. I am told that she is an actor but I would have no frankly no clue about her body of work (pun wholly unintended).
So is Urfi Javed (or Uorfi Javed as she prefers) famous only for being famous? How does she impact the cause of feminism by permitting herself to be objectified, trolled, reviled?
Please enter your email address