If the first woman God ever made
was strong enough to turn the world
upside down, all alone
together women ought to be able to turn it
right side up again.

Women. We are one of the most complicated creatures ever made. A network of sensory, mental, biological and spiritual forces, all coming together. We have come a long way since fighting for the right to vote and for working outside the four walls of our homes. Today the separation of human rights for men and women grows slimmer and slimmer all through the world. How easily we were oppressed and how much has come to change since. Today, we stand confident, we are hard working, emotional, loving and most importantly proud of the person we are, and not ashamed to say it. We aren't afraid to demand our worth and fight for what we have rightfully earned.

Yes, we are now challenged to come forward. We are asked to claim some of our own territories, outside of our homes, outside of our partner's head. Gender is no longer a major role play. We, who at a time didn't have any rights to money, are now invited to run and finance the world. We are changing expectations and incorporating more consciousness in personal and professional life. Today we are part supporter, part creator, part leader, part destroyer. Part mother, business owner, homeowner, map maker. Wholly living life now, perplexed by our own self and free to intuit and wonder and chisel our inner world out of our dreams, into the real world.

But although we've made such successful strides come so far ahead, there is so much more that is yet to be fought against, fears yet to be conquered, limitations yet to be surpassed. We carry the courage of Joan of Arc, but with it also the fear of the stake while holding silicon between our fingers. Our historical evolution entwined in our very DNA reminds us of the dangers of life, despite our relatively safe existence now. I'm not going to take away from the progress made in the past years in dismantling a patriarchal society. But in this similar manner, that progress doesn't take away from the fact that even today women have to struggle to walk the streets without a care in the world, to work at similar position as a man and expect an equal pay, to have the right to make decisions about their own bodies, or even something as basic as getting an education and pursuing a career of their own choice.

Right from the shape of our bodies to the very clothes we choose to cover them with, everything is taken under society's microscope and scrutinized till it has been reduced to propaganda that can be used against us. They try using silk and cotton to trap our bodies, failing to realize that our soul roams free and wide. Today we can feel our sexual needs and ask for more. And yet, we still unknowingly ensure that these needs sit perfectly in the grove created for us and not step anywhere out of line. We are termed 'sluts' if we choose to lust forever and 'prudes' if we choose to love temporarily, with no terms being invented yet for the opposite sex displaying the same behavior. Sometimes, a movie's rating (PG-13 versus R) depends on how much a female appears to be enjoying sex in a certain scene. We are still taught how to prevent being raped, while no one will teach them how not to view us as objects.

Yes, the discussion about gender and sex is more now than ever before, and progress is being made in leaps and bounds. Now we are free to experiment, fail, and get comfortable with being seen as imperfect while still walking through the fire of judgment like in old testament. It can be argued that we are just taking two steps forward and one step back. And although that still is ultimately a step forward, we shouldn't forget that we still need to take that one other step to have reached our goal. There are still quite a number of battles to be won and we can't stop fighting and rest easy just yet.

All I have to say to the women of today and tomorrow, to the women here and everywhere - Forget your daily affirmation. Tear off that good woman facade constructed by societal expectations. Burn those conduct books. Their efforts to bind us to a set of limitations is the equivalent of trying to capture sunlight in the palm of a hand, or to halt the expansion of the universe - because that is what we are, an entire universe of our own, infinite in every direction.