19 Things Women Don't Get Enough Credit For

Sarah Kester
Women holding book to her head
Unsplash | Siora Photography

Although the feminist movement has made many strides over the decades, there is still an unbalance of power

Many statistics back this up, such as one study that found that women receive less credit for speaking up in the workplace than their male counterparts. Another found that women do double the emotional labor than men.

Still don’t believe it? Hear from women themselves. Here are 19 things women don’t get enough credit for. 

Quietly tolerating that we can't even travel to certain countries based on the fact that we're women

Girl leaving plane
Unsplash | Spenser Sembrat

It's been put into our heads that traveling alone as a woman is unsafe. In addition to this, we feel for the women who are being oppressed in countries around the world.

Doing the same thing as men while also menstruating, recovering from childbirth, etc

Tampons
Unsplash | Natracare

"Going to work and being expected to put in the same effort as a man while my insides are exploding. I think we need either a tax credit or more sick days." - u/Famingo2022

Dealing with the responsibility, and consequences, of taking birth control

Jess from New Girl crying
Giphy | WE tv

We're STILL wondering what the hold-up with male birth control is. Without it, the onus is entirely on the women to take something that can make them feel physically and hormonally horrible.

Carrying the weight of emotional labor

Sheldon and Amy on couch
EW | CBS

"I've been doing ALL of the emotional labor in my current relationship. I'm the one that starts discussions, does practically all of the talking, and I have to basically ask for apologies otherwise all he does is sit there quietly with his brow furrowed." - u/Koobuto

Childbirth

Rachel giving birth
Giphy | Friends

Although women get credit for this, it's not enough in many people's opinions. One wrote that pregnancy and labor are too normalized and that we need to start talking about the painful, gory, and traumatic specifics that can happen.

Dealing with certain horrible men

Husband and wife in Big Little Lies
Fan Fest | HBO

"Living in a world of violent, misogynistic and controlling men i.e. mass shooters, politicians, rapists, pedos, and abusers that we must interact with, physically serve, and sometimes carry their children with no other option." - u/Technical_Feed_3805

Being a stay-at-home mom or single parent

Mom hanging with her kids
Unsplash | Alexander Dummer

Being a stay-at-home mom is a lot harder than it looks. It's a thankless job that leaves you yearning for adult interaction. Then, as a single parent, it's twice the work and only one of you.

Dealing with beauty standards

Woman's reflection in mirror
Unsplash | Peter Kalonji

"Our society is so incredibly obsessed with appearance and quick to judge a woman when she doesn't look her best and how she must be depressed or going through something if not in top notch appearance 24/7." - u/bitchontheinternet94

Staying as calm as we can when dealing with dismissive, rude, and/or misogynistic people

Jonathan trying to keep his cool
Giphy | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

"I really want to scream most of the time but I keep it in check. And of course if we show any amount of distress then we’re being 'too emotional' or 'overreacting.' It’s honestly infuriating." - u/misntshortformary

Pain tolerance

Steve Carrell getting waxed
Looper | Apatow Productions

While some men tend to freak out about things like having a cold, we women have to tolerate excruciating pain.

We get hair plucked and waxed, go through intense labor, and have horrible menstrual cramps. Plus, there's the main of dealing with certain men.

The brutality of the postpartum experience

Woman lying in bed upset
Unsplash | Yuris Alhumaydy

"Everyone acknowledges how pregnancy and childbirth are hard, but I felt like postpartum was so rough and lasted 2 years before I finally really started to feel like my individual self again." - u/ChocolateBaconBeer

Washing the skid marks out of their partner's underwear

Grossed out
Giphy

Believe it or not, there's a MUCH bigger issue at stake here. It's that some men are getting babied by their partners who do all their chores and clean up after them.

Taking primary care of aging parents

Mother and daughter together on bench
Unsplash | Dario Valenzuela

"THIS. My (older) brother still lives at home, has never left. Yet, who does she call when she needs something? That's right, her single-mom daughter (me) who works 60-70 hours a week." - u/hindereddinner

Soothing and fake laughing at scary men

Woman laughing uncomfortably
Giphy | TV Land

Ugh, this is the worst. Men get to say creepy things to us and because we don't want to stir up trouble that could put us in danger, we let out a nervous laugh.

The ability to juggle and multitask

Women working in office
Unsplash | CoWomen

"Many women raise or take care of family, while working full time and running the house. Some also add going back to school on that list. We do so much that’s in the background and we get so little acknowledgment for it." - u/TheRedQueen13

Motherhood

Mother overwhelmed and rocking baby
Giphy | CBC

As women, it's a job that's expected from us. But, as one woman wrote, it's the hardest job ever, especially if you want to be good at it. Then, if we're stay-at-home moms, we're called "lazy" for not working a traditional job.

Quietly tolerating that most murders worldwide are done by men

Woman looking upset
Unsplash | Anh Nguyen

"Women put up with So. Much. Crap. yet we aren't the ones mowing people down with guns. Hell, we don't commit the vast majority of violent crimes. I think it's because we're too tired to bother." - u/flamingmaiden

Unhelpful medical advice

BJ Novak as a doctor
reddit | Apatow Productions

"So many things can go wrong with reproductive organs and rather than look into it, many drs just prescribe birth control and go on with their day." - u/deleted. Many are forced to find answers for themselves because no one takes them seriously.

Living our entire lives revolving around the fear of being unsafe

Sad women looking out window
Unsplash | Anthony Tran

We don't walk alone at night for fear that someone could follow us, and we don't dare walk with both headphones in. We don't wear certain clothes to certain places and even give up running after too many women were harassed or killed.

H/T: Reddit