This is a cry from my heart.
Following two years of Covid pandemic, many people are experiencing emotional and/or physical breakdown.
They held on tight for a while in a very difficult context with a lot of fears and uncertainties, they held on and now that the pandemic is receding, they have the space to let go, to think about themselves, think about their lives… and they start to collapse.
I see a lot of people around me who stop working, handing over medical certificates, unable to carry on because they're too exhausted.
Most of them are women.
Indeed, during this period, gender inequalities were glaring and women, much more than men, managed most of the household: home schooling, cleaning, taking care of children,... all while working at the same time.
I wonder when we will realise that gender equality is far from being achieved.
Yes, we have the right to vote, to study, to choose our career, to be free,...
Yes, but in reality, it is always up to women to take care of the household, shopping, children, family activities... And it's not just about doing it in addition to our work, but also thinking about it, organising it, coordinating it! The mental load is almost exclusively for us.
Should we talk about progress? I don’t know. I think that women are stuck for the moment.
And I think most husbands, fathers, men don't realise that.
And it's partly our fault (and at the same time it's not, because we were well educated and programmed by the system…)
We play superwomen.
We proud ourselves and we convince ourselves we can do it all.
We don't delegate because it takes time and anyway it will not be done as we want it to.
We manage everything.
We control.
And at some point, it's way too much.
Ladies, we are caregivers, it is in our nature but the problem is when we care too much about others (and what they might think of us) and too little about ourselves.
Gentlemen, open your eyes, observe your house, do the exercise of listing all the invisible and repetitive tasks that your wives, sisters, daughters do without you realising it, as if it were completely normal.
We cannot do everything.
And if we do, at some point, we will crumble.