We all have heard of sayings like “Behind every successful man there is a woman” and “No man succeeds without a good woman behind him….”

Do these quotes convey appreciation of women and acknowledgement of their role? Or should we say these thoughts are too ancient, as they talk only about men’s success.

We would like to believe women too deserve success, and men too need to play similar role in women’s life, as women has always been playing.

Practically too we know that nowadays women are equally ambitious. With more and more women working and making contributions towards family income, they do need more help from men so that they can balance their home with career. Simple things like partial, if not equal, contribution to house-hold work, cooking, baby sitting and picking up child from childcare center, helping teenage children with their education and sport; well the sharing list is endless.

Even when women do not work for money, they feel creative in various ways and need to devote time to be successful in their chosen art. There are aspiring artists and writers as well as bloggers with flexible working hours, and they too need same amount of support as some woman working within a corporate office. Each work type has its own benefits but each also comes with peculiar limitations. Hence men need to help all women in their lives – their daughter, sister, girlfriend, spouse, colleague, flatmate or even general female friends in day-to-day interactions. Let it begin with girls’ education and hobbies being supported by men in their family. This habit should continue as they grow older.

That was about men helping women. Another fact: If a woman supports another woman, it can work wonders. Women should aim to help other women within their family, neighborhood or work environment.

The writer Louise Bernikow said,

“Female friendships that work are relationships in which women help each other belong to themselves”. 

That’s because a woman knows another woman the best – their daily chores, their hormones and moods, their womanly problems, their unique way of doing things. When women together communicate openly and share joys and problems, it can be very fulfilling as well as psychologically healing, thus adding to productivity in household chores as well as career.

Girls! Cheer each other up by laughing and enjoying together! Go to the movies together. Have genuine fun talks related to variety of topics, not just endless talks about clothes and fashion. While discussions about family are important, women should also talk to other women about ‘each other’, and not just always about men in their life or their children. When women are young girls, they are all about themselves, but once they have a partner they forget their real selves. Bring it back, your girlhood charm and charisma! Doesn’t matter what your age is.

Women can also mutually share each other’s family responsibilities. Cook food together, and also cook for each other if need be – say if you’re bored with cooking or if there is ill-health within some woman’s family. Women can baby sit each other’s children. If one woman’s children are grown up, she can guide the other who has younger kids and who is now trying to get back to work, or else looking to work from home.

Look around. Some women might be in dire need of help with their career. Help them with their resume, ask about their work experience, bring out their skills and help them build confidence. Kind words can work wonders for a heart that is losing hope, and this very much applies to home-bound women who are finding their way out. This is a serious matter as many women stay at home to become a mother but are never able to go out again. They get depressed, they get old within the confines of their home. Don’t look down upon them! Help them, and help each other if you are in a similar situation!

But often, women end up competing with each other. In this male-oriented world that is so hard to please, women end up fighting and putting  each other down while trying to glorify their own credentials.

Hence, check carefully and befriend people who support you, stick to them (avoid others), form a team and strengthen your tribe of helpful females and supportive males. Then go from strength to strength.

~ Written by WeW ~

© We Extraordinary Women, 2016.

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