It's a Glass Ceiling, Dear! by Laksiny Gunasingam

Chronologically speaking, first came the dawn of time. And some million years later, we happened.

Man started to evolve. Man started to invent things. Man discovered lands. Man formed revolutions. Man this. Man that.
The history describes a human being as a "man".

What about the other, the woman?

Looking at the world now, we can say that we have come a long way since then.
Or have we?

If we indeed have come a long way, how come it is still regular days of battlefields out there for women?
How come we are still told what to do?
How come we still look over our shoulders on night walks?
How come there are fields that are yet to be represented by women?
How come when there's an accident, the first question is "was the driver a woman?"

Since a young age, you are told what is an acceptable thing to do and what is not, for a woman.
Good dressing sense? Ladylike.
Loud and sharp voice? Unladylike
Emotional intelligence? Ladylike
Street knowledge? Unladylike
Badminton? Ladylike
Football? Unladylike

A dozen years ago, the one penning this down was a teenager. Once it was summer and she was sweaty. She saw a pair of scissors. She cut her hair. She felt free and breezy. That's all that mattered to her. She didn't really care about anything else.
Until she got to school.
She was ridiculed for looking like a boy. She was ridiculed for not wanting long hair. She was ridiculed for not caring. She was ridiculed for not being and doing the exact same thing as the other kids.
Her spirit went down. She was a kid after all, wasn't she?
She went home all sad. She started to question whether it is a crime to not fit in.

Her mom saw this. Asked her why she was down. She explained.
Her mom gave her a hug and told her something that she will never forget.
"The most important thing about your head is your brain kid, not your hair.
Now, you cut it as short as you want. If everybody is just the same the world would be a boring place, wouldn't it"?

Girls may paint their nails. Girls may not, too.
Girls may wear pretty dresses and smell nice. Girls may not, too.
Girls may decorate things. Girls may not, too.
Girls may be this. Girls may be that, too.

All this kid wanted to wear was her trainers and all she wanted to talk about was elephants and football.
She is still a girl. So are you.

After all, if everybody is just the same the world would be a boring place, wouldn't it?

The ceiling is only made of glass, kid.
One stone would shatter it.

Have a good aim.