She.

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WOMEN ONLY HAVE EQUALITY ON PAPER. In reality, gender equality is far from achieved. Every day, women face invisible barriers at work, at home, and in public. A woman may build a career, earn a salary, and contribute financially—but when she returns home, she is still expected to cook, clean, raise children, and manage the household alone. This unpaid domestic labour is seen as her “natural duty.” Even when both parents share a child, society places the entire responsibility of parenting on the mother. If a woman dresses the way she wants, she faces judgment, shame, and in many cases, even victim-blaming in cases of harassment or rape. Her own family might stop her at the door and tell her to change. When she speaks up, she’s called “too loud”; when she shows emotion, she’s “too sensitive.” Over time, many women begin to believe this is just how things are. But is it really normal—or have we been conditioned to accept inequality as tradition? So, is that really equality? Or is it just a prettier cage? This is why feminism is still relevant. Because women deserve real equality, not just rights written on paper.

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These days,
people laugh when you say feminism.
They roll their eyes,
“Still?” they ask.
“Aren’t women empowered enough?”

So let’s ask back —
Why do critical theories still echo with feminism?
Why do global charters still write it in ink?

Because even now —
freedom lives on paper,
but oppression walks on kitchen floors.

Yes, we have rights.
On paper, we can vote,
we can work,
we can wear the jeans, take the flights, speak the dreams.

But what about the invisible hours?
The second shift that begins after the office closes.
The woman who clocks out,
only to return to a home waiting —
not with warmth,
but with unspoken demands.

Cook. Clean.
Serve. Soften.
Smile.

What about the child — theirs, not just hers —
who wakes at 3 a.m.,
and somehow,
only one parent is expected to wake too?

What about the girl who dares to dress as she wants,
only to feel shame leak through the stares of strangers —
or worse,
her own mother at the gate,
whispering, “Go change.”

And what of the women who will never read this —
the ones too poor, too silenced, too tired
to even know they’re allowed to want more?

What about the patriarchy
that doesn’t scream anymore —
just sits beside her,
pressing into her skin
not like a whisper,
but a slap wearing a smile?

And what about all the women
who suffer quietly —
not because they’re weak,
but because they’ve been told
this is normal.
This is womanhood.
This is love.

No.
This is not equality.
This is exhaustion,
dressed up as duty.

So don’t ask us why we still speak.
Ask instead why we still have to.
Because as long as
a woman’s “freedom”
comes with unpaid shifts,
shamed choices,
and swallowed screams —

Feminism will still be here.
Loud. Unapologetic.
Not because we hate men —
but because we have learned
to stop hating ourselves
for wanting equal peace.