ESSAY ON ESSENCE OF A WOMAN BY SAIMA NADKAR

Saima Nadkar

Islamia College

Group C Grade 11

Essence of a Woman

In an era of ocean and simple living, women were symbols of fertility. A woman’s beauty was considered to be her most defining factor and the more she had of it, the more favoured she was to be a carrier of important bloodlines. The world soon took a progressive turn with mud houses becoming sky scrapers and the women who once took orders, became the ones who gave orders. However, the primitive aspect that stated that beautiful women were wanted women remained intact, and with time that became known as the essence of a woman - a misguided concept indeed.

Although the need to be beautiful may be remnants of primal predisposition, a certain amount of blame needs to be imparted on the media for encouraging such mediocre thinking. From a young age, we (women) are brainwashed into thinking that the essence of a woman lies in how much attention she attracts. By the time we are old enough to understand otherwise, those values have been so deeply etched into our conscience that we forget that real beauty does not merely lay in what we look like from the outside, but rather the light of our being that radiates from the inside.

The sustainability of the world is dependent on women and it is that core of dependence that makes up the essence of a woman. She is the mother of future leaders. She is the inspiration behind great change. She is the caretaker of her family. She is the personification of love, affection and maternal protection. The world needs her, and it is not the reflection in the mirror that matters, but the eyes perceiving that reflection. When a woman fully realises her worth as an incumbent pillar of society, she will realise that she is beautiful in everything that she is.

The 20th century may have brought women into power and educated them to levels that surpassed initial expectations, but the pursuit for beauty struggles on. This will only change when the new generation of growing girls are exposed to the stories of great women rather than that of beautiful women, so that they may aspire towards greatness, a quality far more worth valuing than looks. If all women lived in the shadows of those such as Khadija (R.A), Fatima (R.A) andAsiya Bint Muzahim (Firaun's Wife), they would begin to see and feel the true essence of being a woman, and perhaps they would live more content lives.

It is not possible to simply change the way women think, but it is important that they remember, the essence of a woman lies not in looking beautiful but in being beautiful.