Pink Dandelion Quarterly_Fall 2019

07. | STANDING UP FOR A SISTER by @wordscassata

ESSAY ON SISTERHOOD

"If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way." - Napoleon Hill

One of the biggest lessons of my life was learnt not by listening to lectures of great men and women or by following some big reformers but at a small coffee house while sitting with a bunch of teenagers. I was in high school and like most normal teenagers it was not easy.

Trying to be perfect, trying to fit in, peer pressure and to top it off major body image issues. Don't get me wrong, it was not all bad. I was smart, good looking and a good student who never got into any trouble, but that was not enough. Not enough for me as it was not enough for some people. I was too skinny to fit into the perfect body image. I was picked on frequently. I acted tough but it hurt. I had accepted it as part of life and thus high school years progressed.

One day a group of girls including me were at a local coffee house sipping pumpkin spice latte's when a classmate entered. She was an athlete and looked like she had come directly from practice. She walked over to the counter and placed her order. We heard her order and that is when snide comments began.

The girl in question was tall and had a big personality. That did not fit in the description of "perfect" according to most girls at my table, and she was not very well dressed since she had come there directly from practice.

"She should go light on the cream."

"She should be on the boys team."

And few such comments were passed. Out of the six of us, four were enjoying making fun of her, while I silently continued to sip my drink since I knew how hurtful such bullying can be. The sixth girl of our group did not simply sit on the sidelines and let them continue. She stood up and chided them for their comments.

"She is a girl just like us," she said. "There are boys sitting here. If we make fun of her, it will encourage the boys to do the same. I will not stand for this." Saying so, she picked up her drink to join the new girl at her booth.

I was ashamed at myself for not standing up for what was right. She had done what I had thought of hundreds of times. Although I could not gather enough courage until then, this incident gave me the courage to stand up for my sisters going forward.

Women deal with a lot of things including attention and sometimes unwanted attention of opposite sex. Passing judgment on someone just like us gives a signal to the men that it's okay to objectify women.

When the girl walked out on us, she not only shut up the girls but also I think she gained some appreciative glance from the boys as well.

We read or hear about feminism and strong women fighting for a cause and look at them with awe and admiration. No doubt they are strong people who sacrifice a lot for others' welfare, and not many of us can do that. But there are little things in life which we can do to help women around us.

Equality has no meaning until we treat members of our own gender with love they deserve. 

Author Bio: wordscassata is new to Wattpad and 'When story comes alive' is her first book here. She writes, "I would love to read comments, suggestions, recommendations or just about anything you may want to say to me."