Why Do Women Compromise Their Dreams?

According to the Global?Dreams Index survey, half of the world’s female population have given up on their dreams. There is a lot to unpack on this topic. Giving up on your dreams as a man and doing so as a woman is definitely different . There are different factors that come into play. While we here are concentrating on women, let us talk about the major reasons why women let go of their goals. I also want to shed some light on how society shapes and affects women’s dreams and desires from an early age.?

Even if it is the 21st century, we are still at the end of the day living in a patriarchal society. Young women come across various reactions, opinions and unsolicited advice people in general have about their dreams and goals. If their career choices in any way break the mould or stereotype we have created for women in our society , the reaction they are met with is usually negative and disapproving.

At times, it also turns into discouragement. It isn’t uncommon for women to be told that this particular field or stream of career isn’t exactly made for them.Women who wanted to pursue STEM might give a more detailed account about this than I ever could. Society tries to stifle a woman's aspirations from a young age. This shapes her view about what dreams are within her reach and which are not. Now let us discuss the different factors that contribute to women giving up on their dreams. I have observed and narrowed it down to 3 major reasons,marriage and kids, neglect from parents and unsupportive work culture.?

Marriage and kids- Our society shows a culture in which we?girls are always expected to be taught and cared for and have no "personal" goals or dreams after marriage. In fact, marriage is planned as our goal. And when this goal is achieved women are expected to be happy and grateful for the rest of their lives. Even the rising rate in women's education has yet to fundamentally change the participation of women in the workplace. Childcare is also heavily seen as a women’s job to do. While men are at times allowed to shrug off from their responsibility we cannot say the same for women. Most women are too exhausted by their household burdens to fully concentrate on their career.?

Neglect from parents- Imagine your aims and goals constantly being ignored by your own parents. It will affect you in the long run. Most people don’t seem to realise the mental impact neglect causes in our country’s young female dreamers who want to be an entrepreneur, pilot or astronaut. If you grew up in a household as a girl child that constantly belittles your goals you might understand what I am talking about. It causes low self-esteem issues. They start feeling that their dreams are too small or too worthless to even pursue. Young women start believing that their goals aren’t as important as the other males in their household. Unlike the other reasons on this list. This reason leads to a slow death of dreams.?

Unsupportive work culture - Women are overworked and underpaid. Let us not forget how corporate work environments are hostile towards women. Only a few organisations are considerate enough to give period and maternity leaves. All these factors make an awful work culture which leads to women quitting.?

We need to create a better environment for women where they aren’t forced to choose between their dreams and families, where their goals aren’t considered insignificant or impossible to achieve and where they are allowed to nurture and grow as much as they want. I hope we soon are able to achieve this because women have so much potential. It is only a matter of time before they let their passions run free.?