Self-Effacing Woman

"Most women become self-effacing when they get married and start using a man's surname; they take a different identity, as if their identity wasn't good enough. I have noticed that most women tend to put themselves down and live through men. Many women leave their profession when they get married, as though their profession were only a second-hand goal and their man's profession is far more important. Many women that are single also do this to themselves; they too think it is not polite to have a goal or to list their credentials and that they are not important unless they have a man. And when women don't do this to themselves, society does this for them; when you walk with a man, people automatically think he is going to pay or he is going to make the decision or that he is the smart one. So a woman has to be strong enough to not be self-effacing. Let's list our accomplishments and let other young women know that they too can stand alone and contribute to our society and make a mark in this world and not be self-effacing."

Soraida Martinez

Copyright 1995