Ready? I'm about to be a little controversial. This is rather unlike me to be this bold but who knows, maybe there's something in the air today; I have some things to say and imma just gonna say them.
One of the prompts in the Ladies of Hive group this week was the following:
Biggest lies!
Some men believe women love money more than they do, others believe something else... What is the biggest lie you've heard or seen men actually believe about women?
Beliefs are a funny thing. They get us into trouble all the time. We believe different things from those around us and it causes conflict.
We believe that what we believe is the truth. Of course, it's not. It's simply a belief, a thing that's lodged in our subconscious mind running our life, sometimes causing more harm than good.
If it's not the truth, is it a lie?
Maybe not. Maybe it's simply a belief. Neither true nor false, not honest or a lie, just a thought that someone thought long enough to believe it was the truth.
What do (all) men believe about (all) women?
Heck knows!
There's probably no one thing that all men believe about all women. And while I've heard lots of things come out of the mouth of men over my lifetime, I do not presume to think that what that one or even one hundred men believe is true "of women" is actually what all men believe about women.
Are all women beautiful? Probably not.
Are all women bitches? Not in my experience.
Are all women bad drivers? Some are, some aren't.
Are all women hopeless with money? Certainly not. One of my business mentors, a woman, made $700K in her business last year, helping people.
Are all women emotional? No more than men if I look at my circle of closest friends.
Are all women supposed to give birth? Ahhh, as a happily childless 40-something-year-old, let's go with a 'no' on that one.
I think you get the idea.
Think of anything you've heard come out of the mouth of a man (or your mouth if you're a man) about "women" as a group and you'll realise that what was said was simply a belief.
Not a truth. Not a lie. Not something that can be honestly said about all women on the planet. It was just a thing that fell out of the mouth of one human (and might be believed by other humans as well).
Belief is the operative word here.
So, really, when I think about it, I believe that the biggest lie that men believe about women is that there is any one thing that can be said about all women that is true.
We (women) are all different.
We are beautiful and not so, clever and not so, great with money and not so, capable with cars and not so, well spoken and not so, emotional and not so. Collectively, we are all the things. Just like men.
We are all the things. Just like men.
Got something to say on the matter? Feel free to reply as a comment below.
Want to give us your own answer to this prompt? There's still a little time left this week if you'd like to participate. That is if you identify as a woman (no need to be a "lady"; a woman is plenty!). Check out all the details here.
Thank you, merit.ahama for this week's (and all the many other weeks you've offered) prompts.