It's the understatement of the year to say that 2023 has not been kind to women for a multitude of reasons — rising costs of feminine products, the continuous removal of women's bodily autonomy across the US (looking at you, Roe v. Wade), protests for equality being met with violence in the Middle East, need we go on?
Some may say society has made immense progress when it comes to gender equality, but when it constantly feels as though the needle is moving backwards when it comes to women's rights, that's a hard statement to believe.
Redditor u/InfiniteFigs asked women of the r/Ask subreddit about the worst parts of being a woman in 2023, and these women did not hold back in speaking their truth.
1. "People don't freaking believe you. They think women are not able to accurately remember or interpret their own experiences. Even as witnesses, they don't believe you, and it is positively maddening. They'd rather give the benefit of the doubt to the perpetrator, like they identify with them more."
2. "Women's medical procedures are constantly being done with no pain management. Some examples are a colposcopy (where they literally cut out a chunk of your cervix for biopsy while you aren’t even provided with a Tylenol) or an IUD insertion. Meanwhile, male vasectomies get local anesthetic."
3. "Having old men tell you what you can and can't do with your body."
4. "Everything I say is an argument. I can’t have any opinions without it getting brought back to man-hating. My own experiences are argued against, and it's exhausting."
5. "The development of AI and deep fake technologies terrifies me. They can literally generate naked pictures from a normal one. So, as a woman, I personally don't feel safe posting pictures online these days."
6. "The obsessive culture around anti-aging that begins as a teen."
7. "Being thought of as a bitch when you're not overly accommodating and agreeable, when men who act similarly would not be received negatively for it."
8. "The amount of hate women get for being non-traditionally feminine and the amount of hate given to trans women."
9. "The responsibility always seems to get put on women to prevent pregnancy, and every time a man is asked to wear a condom, they complain because 'it doesn't feel the same' or 'it's uncomfortable.' The one time they created a birth control pill for men, they took it off the market due to side effects such as depression, mood swings, and weight issues. Meanwhile, women have to do a ton of trial and error to find a pill or implant device just to prevent their lives changing completely due to pregnancy, while dealing with all of those same side effects."
10. "I'm not taken seriously when I present medical issues to doctors."
11. "There is a clear lack of empathy for women. I was upset over a miscarriage and asked for two days off of work, and my doctor said to me: 'I don't know why you're sad, just try again.' He's no longer my doctor."
12. "The way that women are supposed to dress compared to men — especially in business situations — is ridiculous. Why do we have to wear high heels, tight skirts, jewelry, and makeup, when men get to wear a comfy loose suit and flat shoes?"
13. "Maternity care. I shouldn’t have almost died giving birth a few months ago as a healthy 26-year-old woman. Everything that happened was preventable."
14. "People seem to only care about how you look."
15. "Having men believe that just because you gave them the tiniest amount of attention, it means that you automatically want to date them. Or their belief that you somehow owe them your time when they send nonstop messages and get upset that you don't respond almost instantly."
16. "Being judged for not wanting to have kids."
17. "The fact that tampons start at $8.99 or feminine hygiene products are way more expensive than before is annoying. Facial wash, soap, these products are so expensive. Just a year ago, some of these were $5.99 or $6.99…now $8.99?!"
18. "For me personally, it's being taken seriously in my career. I'm in IT — a male-dominated field — and I encounter so many people who are blatantly sexist toward me in the workplace. I almost switched fields entirely because of the sexism I've encountered."
19. "Men assuming I can’t do anything. I’m trying to move into an RV and travel full-time. These old farts at the dealership drop their jaws every time they hear I’ll be driving instead of my husband. Lots of people hit me with the 'how are you going to do that all by yourself?'"
20. "The fact that a woman can just be brutally murdered in Iran for not wearing the hijab correctly. People will try to downplay it by saying, 'Oh, but you have to follow the rules in an Islamic country,' as if brutal murder was the correct answer in that situation."
21. "Having to remember to look behind you when you close doors to your apartment complex to make sure someone sketchy didn’t follow in."
22. "Realizing how much the world is not interested in a woman's perspective."
23. "Well, I rejected a guy's offer who asked me out during work on Friday. I’m scared to come into work today because women have been murdered for this."
24. "Making less money than a man when doing the SAME role. Also, I got rated better on performance evaluations, and we were hired at the same time."
25. And finally, "The looming dread of even more rights being taken away."
Have you experienced any other difficulties as a woman in 2023? Let us know in the comments.
Some comments may have been edited for length/clarity.