Do You Love Women?

Happy International Women’s Day, girls.

And to the men reading this, do you celebrate the women in your life? Do you gift your mother, your sister, your female friends, not out of obligation but out of gratitude?

And to the women, how do you honor yourself today?

I’ve never considered myself a strong feminist compared to many women I’ve met.

But I’m not a defender of patriarchy either.

I simply love seeing women rise, becoming presidents, leaders, decision-makers, regardless of their political ideology.

I genuinely believe women bring something different to leadership: a kind of peacefulness, thoughtfulness, and emotional intelligence that comes from vulnerability, not weakness.

But I also see the struggle. Many women still find it hard to establish authority in a world that expects them to be agreeable, diplomatic, people-pleasing.

Maybe it’s biology, maybe it’s culture, maybe it’s centuries of conditioning, but the result is the same: women are often raised to care first, speak second.

For generations, society was built around these differences.
Men were expected to hunt, protect, provide.

Women were expected to nurture, raise children, maintain the home.
And even today, those expectations linger in subtle, powerful ways.

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The Price of Being a Daughter

In China, when a man marries a woman, he traditionally pays her family. This custom has become a huge debate:
Should it be banned?
Is it outdated?
Is it unfair?

Many men argue, “If we are equal, why should I pay to marry you?”
And honestly, I understand that frustration.

But I also understand the women.

For many Chinese women, the payment isn’t about selling themselves. It’s about compensating their parents, because once they marry, they will spend more time caring for their husband’s family than their own. Their parents will see them less, rely on them less, receive less support as they age. The payment becomes a symbolic acknowledgment of that loss.

But sometimes, families take advantage of this tradition.

Sometimes the money is used to support the woman’s brothers, reinforcing the idea that sons are the true heirs, and daughters are temporary guests.

There is even a saying:
“A married daughter is like spilled water.”
Once she leaves, she no longer belongs fully to her own family.

And that is what bothers me the most.
Not her role in marriage, but her role in her original family.

Daughters are often loved, but not invested in.

Cherished, but not prioritized.
Expected to give, but not to receive.

Sisters become caretakers.
Brothers become the ones who get to “just live.”

This imbalance is old, but it is not harmless.

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So on this Women’s Day, here is my message

If you have daughters, love them as deeply and proudly as you love your sons.
Even if they won’t carry your family name.
Even if they will one day build a life elsewhere.
Even if tradition tells you they are “spilled water.”

They are not.

Women are different from men, yes.
But different does not mean less.
Different does not mean disposable.
Different does not mean secondary.

Women are equally important.
Equally valuable.
Equally human.

And today is a reminder to honor that truth, not with flowers, but with awareness, respect, and change.

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