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The value of a woman
Not much apparently.
This photo came up on my feed as a memory recently, a post from Mother’s Day a few years ago when I was feeling nostalgic. I look at it now and the nostalgia has been replaced with sadness that was always there but not acknowledged…for me at least.
On the surface it represents one of the happiest times in a woman’s life. And it is clear that the woman is happy. Enough time has passed since the birth of her first child that she is relaxed and confident and is enjoying the summer weather and summer fashions.
In reality its an all too rare moment of lightness in a life that was mostly difficult and limited.
We talk so much about giving women equality and a lot has changed certainly since this photo was taken but she is one of many of generations past that were not allowed to live a normal free life.
The first strike against her was, of course, that she was female which in her family meant she was not allowed to finish her education and was forced to leave school at 16 despite being exceptional. Ironic really as her mother was a teacher. And in that was the second burden she had to carry through her early life. The fact that her mother had favored the son. Possibly not that surprising considering the generation and the culture they came from.
