29 Worst Things About Being Female

1. Lack of camaraderie between women. The jealousy and competitiveness in attaining (male) attention is all too apparent especially with younger women. Women are quick to judge a potential threat and criticize those perceived to be inferior, when instead we should embrace and unite with one another.

2. We are more sensitive to the cold yet our clothing works against us. Formal events like weddings, cocktail parties and even the workplace require women to wear dresses, skirts, lower cut tops with shorter sleeves designed with thinner material. Men get to wear warm and comfy suits.

3. Porn, strip clubs and perving on other women is accepted because ‘it’s a guy thing’. Apparently after 200,000 years of evolution, mass insemination is still the going excuse for being a pervert.

4. Being eye-raped. Ew. Just, ew.

5. Women working full-time get paid around 18% less and retire with less than half the amount of superannuation than men. The multitude of injustices that this equates to is more than alarming.

6. Inability to open tight jars. Gherkins, raspberry jam, mustard and olives are delicious yet cruelly reside in jars. On occasion, I lack the physical strength to open a jar and the excessive physical exertion required is extremely frustrating.

7. The expenses relating to and time dedicated to aesthetics. Make-up, hairdresser appointments, bras, hair removal, fake tans, mani’s/pedi’s, skincare, hair products, gym memberships…it all adds up. All just to comply with social norms and attempt to be placed at an advantageous position socially and economically.

8. The multitude of slurs and labels exclusively designed to repress and degrade women – bitch, slut, whore, slapper, mutton-dressed-as-lamb, frigid, prude, biddie, gold-digger, diva, ratchet, bimbo, air-head, cow, ho, hussy, loose, bunny-boiler, tart, cow, nympho, c**t, skank, drama-queen, man-eater, bird, doll-face, bridezilla, butch, bush-pig, chick, hoochie-mama, cougar, ditz, old-bag, pussy, queen-bee, sex-kitten, tail, wench, ball-breaker etc.

9. The contraceptive pill is our responsibility. A measure adopted by many couples to protect both parties in the relationship, yet it is still considered to be the woman’s obligation. The time involved with obtaining prescriptions and the monetary expenses all adds up.

10. Female athletes are not exclusively viewed for their skills and performance as uniforms are designed to expose more skin than their male counterparts. For example, women’s uniforms for volleyball, gymnastics and running are designed to be smaller and tighter than men’s uniforms but don’t contribute additional functional benefits.

11. Women do more housework. Statistics across the board show that women contribute more time to the upkeep of the household than their male partners – even when they’re the main breadwinner. So much for ‘me’ time!

12. Periods. This one’s pretty self-explanatory.

13. It’s socially unacceptable to have any hair from the neck down. Hair removal is time consuming, costly and boring. Men only have to shave one thing – their faces.

14. Our physique and biology works against us. We have lesser physical strength to defend ourselves against aggressors in addition to our sexual organ being of the receptive nature. Men have the strength and the penetrative appendage, leaving us at a distinct handicap to defend ourselves.

15. Having to find a bathroom to go number-ones. We have to source the closest bathroom or hold on until we can locate one, whereas men can just find a tree or a bush if need be.

16. Our attractiveness and desirability is considered to depreciate with age. We are taught that women become less and less desirable with age, yet the same values are not placed on men. Great for the billion-dollar beauty industry, not so great for women’s self-esteem in a society favoring a one-dimensional youthful aesthetic.

17. Childbirth. Again, very self-explanatory!

18. It’s more acceptable for men to swear than women. When a woman swears, she is viewed as rude, unladylike and offensive. When the very same words are coming from a man, significantly less prejudice is applied to his character.

19. Being scared to walk alone at night. Being scared when there is a noise and you’re home alone. Being scared when catching a cab at night. Being scared when pushed at a concert. Being scared when a fight breaks out near you. Being scared when being grabbed.

20. Having shorter childhoods than boys. Girls are forced to grow-up faster than boys thanks to the premature and excessive sexualization of women in our culture and mainstream media. Little girls playing makeover instead of climbing a tree. Little girls dancing provocatively like their favorite music video star. Little girls wearing bikinis. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

21. Pap smears. Saving our lives but losing our dignity every two years.

22. Being brainwashed into thinking that we need to surgically alter our appearance. Millions of women a year go under the knife in order to rid themselves of perceived faults. We’ve been led to believe that the fat protecting our reproductive system is gross, our breasts are small and our faces look too old. Barbie is good, everything else is bad.

23. Being viewed as aggressive when being assertive. This is especially annoying since identical behavior is often more socially acceptable for a male and often results in respect instead of being unfavorably judged.

24. High-heels. They’re actually ridiculous, when you think about it. High-heels render women partially immobile, vulnerable and cause long-term damage – not unlike the ancient Japanese practice of foot-binding which we now scoff at.

25. Girls kissing girls. Lesbians and bisexuals aside, public girl on girl make-out sessions are a desperate grab for (male) attention. Publicly roleplaying a sexually intimate act going against personal gender preferences is evidence of an extreme lack of self-esteem.

26. Girls acting dumb or cutesy. It’s incredibly sad when a female chooses to play the part of generic submissive femininity instead of just being herself – afraid to show her own individuality, personality and character because she believes that childlike behavior is better received.

27. Being told that you’re being dramatic. A kaleidoscope of emotions such as sadness, dismay and elation are involuntary frequent occurrences in a female’s life. Having your feelings invalidated is offensive and unfair. Especially when the model for appropriate emotional response is based on what many would perceive to be emotionally repressed men.

28. When women feel that they need to be agreeable in order to be likeable. It makes me sad when I see a women who is too afraid to express her opinion and stand up for her beliefs, and so agrees with everything a man has to say (no matter how stupid or offensive).

29. Having to put the toilet seat down because a man has forgotten to (aka couldn’t be bothered). In addition dealing with periods, childbirth, pap smears and menopause, we must also touch a festy toilet seat unnecessarily just to be able to use it because of somebody else’s laziness.

Want more articles like this? Check out Thought Catalog Books anthology “Girls?” here.