— Especially When We’re Still Doing Most of the Work for Less PayThis piece honors the fact that women perform approximately 76.2% of total ho
— Especially When We’re Still Doing Most of the Work for Less Pay
from Sora
This piece honors the fact that women perform approximately 76.2% of total hours of unpaid care work globally—three times more than men—according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). And despite this, the global gender pay gap remains at roughly 20%, with even wider gaps for Black, Indigenous, and disabled women.
1. Other People’s Comfort With Injustice
Sometimes people would rather stay comfortable than face hard truths. But it’s not on us to make injustice feel gentle. Truth is how healing begins, even if it stings at first.
2. Every Emotion in the Room
We’ve been taught to smooth things over, calm things down, keep the peace. But it’s okay to step back. It’s not your job to carry every feeling but your own.
3. The Broken Pieces We Didn’t Break
Whether it’s a workplace, a family, or a relationship—if it was built without care or respect, we don’t have to be the glue that keeps it going. Especially if it’s hurting us.
4. Making Everyone Else Look Good
Women have long been expected to “take the high road” for the sake of community, family, or reputation. But we matter too. Being silent to keep others comfortable is not the same as being strong.
5. Someone Else’s Healing They Won’t Choose
You can love someone and still realize you can’t heal them. Especially if they don’t want to change. That’s not failure—that’s wisdom.
6. Outdated Ideas of What a “Good Woman” Should Be
Gentle doesn’t mean silent. Kind doesn’t mean boundary-less. It’s okay to grow out of roles that shrink you.
7. Guilt That Was Passed Down Like an Heirloom
Maybe you were taught to carry too much. Maybe the women before you had to survive by staying quiet. You get to choose something different—and still honor their survival.
8. Fixing People Who Keep Breaking You
It’s not your job to explain basic respect. If someone keeps crossing your line, it’s okay to walk away—quietly or loudly.
9. Being “the Strong One” All the Time
Strength is not about always holding it together. Real strength is asking for help, falling apart sometimes, and still choosing to keep going. You deserve to rest, too.
10. The Emotional Gaps Left by Absent Fathers, Leaders, or Partners
Women often step in where others step out. But some of those gaps were never meant to be filled by us in the first place. Let that be their work.
11. The Harm That’s Done in the Name of Love
Love should never ask you to shrink, suffer, or stay silent. If it does, that’s not love. That’s control dressed up in sweet words.
12. Proving That You Matter
You don’t need to explain, over-perform, or prove your worth. You being here is proof enough.
💗 Gentle Reminder:
If no one told you today—your job was never to fix the whole world. Your only job is to live your truth, protect your peace, and love yourself like someone worth saving.
1. 🛑 I will not silence myself to make injustice feel more comfortable to others.
1. 🛑 I will not silence myself to make injustice feel more comfortable to others.Boundary: “I speak the truth with love—and I don’t shrink to make room for what’s wrong.”
2. 🧘🏾 I’m allowed to step back from emotional overload.
Boundary: “I can care without carrying it all. My peace matters too.”
3. 🧩 I am not the fixer of things I didn’t break.
Boundary: “I choose not to take responsibility for problems I did not create.”
4. 🎭 I no longer sacrifice my well-being to protect someone else’s image.
Boundary: “I won’t wear a mask to make others look better. My truth stands as it is.”
5. 🕊️ I release the need to heal people who refuse to heal themselves.
Boundary: “I can love you without losing myself. Your healing is your path.”
6. 🌱 I don’t have to be boxed into outdated roles to be worthy.
Boundary: “I give myself permission to evolve—even if others don’t understand it.”
7. 🧺 I set down the guilt that doesn’t belong to me.
Boundary: “I no longer carry emotional weight passed down through generations.”
8. 🚪 I don’t stay in spaces where I’m repeatedly harmed.
Boundary: “If it hurts me, I have the right to leave—even if they don’t think I should.”
9. 🛏️ I deserve rest. I do not have to be strong every moment of the day.
Boundary: “I can be soft, tired, and human. My strength does not require exhaustion.”
10. 🧩 I am not a replacement for what others refuse to be or become.
Boundary: “I am not filling in for absent effort. I’m choosing to preserve my energy.”
11. 💔 Love should never require me to hurt myself.
Boundary: “I do not accept pain as proof of love. Love does not leave bruises on the soul.”
12. 🕯️ I do not have to prove my worth to deserve respect.
Boundary: “I am not here to earn dignity. It is already mine.”
💬 Reflection Prompt:
Which one of these boundaries do you most need today? Write it down. Speak it aloud. Place it somewhere visible. Your boundaries are not walls—they are doors with locks and keys, and you hold the key.
✊🏾 Womanist Wisdom Says:
“Our sacred labor deserves sacred rest. Let the world learn to carry what we’ve been forced to hold alone.”
— Tonya GJ Prince
💡 Women do more than 76% of the world’s unpaid care work—cooking, caregiving, cleaning, emotional labor—and still earn around 20% less than men globally.
(Source: International Labour Organization)
