10 Typical Things All Modern Women Have to Go Through 

The fight to expand women’s rights is an ongoing one. While it can’t be denied that a woman’s status in society has improved in the US since the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, there are still a lot of struggles that modern women face. From the personal to the political, from the mildly annoying to the utterly infuriating, let’s take a look at 10 problems that the modern woman has to contend with.

1. No Pockets in Fashion

Let’s start off with something simple and rather silly. If you’ve ever seen a woman happy that her dress has pockets, there’s a reason for that. Most pieces of women’s clothing either don’t have pockets at all or have pockets so ridiculously small that nothing can fit in them.

The expectation here should be obvious. You either carry a purse, or you can’t keep all of your stuff on hand.

It’s 2022, we should have passed this point already. Let women have actual pockets.

2. Ridiculous Standards on Social Media

Before social media, feeling bad about yourself due to the images in magazines was considered a part of the teenage female experience. Now, however, it’s social media sites like Instagram and TikTok that set the beauty standards.

What’s even more pernicious about sites like these setting beauty standards is that every phone has access to a suite of filters and other editing software. Since it’s on a social media platform, where most people perform the best parts of their lives, it’s assumed that the pictures are accurate if a bit idealized.

Even when you know it’s all filters and glamour, this can have devastating effects on your self-esteem.

3. Shame Around Sexual Autonomy

This is one of the oldest double standards in the book. If a man has many partners, he’s seen as desirable and virile. If a woman exhibits the same sexual desires, she’s seen as shameful and dirty.

If a woman even admits to having a desire for sex, certain sectors will condemn her for it. If she pursues something like vaginal rejuvenation to restore or improve sensation in her later years, she’s sneered at.

Thankfully, this attitude seems to be on its way out.

4. People Can’t Keep Their Laws Out of Uteruses

Any woman who’s experienced a pregnancy scare can tell you how stressful it is to face down the possibility of carrying a child when you’re not ready. In several countries across the globe, women are denied the right to reproductive freedom and family planning.

Even within the United States, the effort to ensure this freedom to choose when one starts a family is being gutted or ignored. Even fellow women will join with the ones who want to force birth on others. We can no longer take the rights of modern women for granted.

5. Keeping Your Head on a Swivel While Out

If a man were to describe the level of situational awareness required by women on a daily basis, his fellows would decry him as paranoid. Yet women must keep their heads on a swivel when walking home at night.

Or in broad daylight. Or, in fact, any time at all.

Women are expected to be vigilant for attackers, lest they be blamed for their negligence. This manifests in walking around the store several times to ensure that you’ve ditched the guy a bit too close behind you. Or, it could manifest in pretending to talk on the phone to make yourself a less appealing target.

6. Have Your Points Ignored, Then Restated

Modern women in the workplace experience this so often it’s almost laughable. While soft-spoken men can have this issue as well, sexism endemic to the workplace means this happens to women on a much grander scale.

Imagine spending months working on a proposal for your boss, only to have them cast aside what you submitted. Then, imagine hearing a few weeks later about a brilliant idea your male boss or co-worker submitted that’s now being implemented.

It was your project and your idea. Yet someone else gets all the credit. This is the female experience at work.

7. Objectification From Puberty Onward

As soon as girls develop breasts and begin to look somewhat “mature,” they’re considered fit for public consumption, regardless of their actual age. Ask any woman, and she could give you at least a dozen stories from her preteen or early teen years where someone offered unwanted, unwarranted commentary on their developing bodies.

8. Modern Women Must Have It All

Modern women still face the ancient expectation to become mothers and homemakers. However, they now also face pressure from our capitalistic society to become top earners and have well-paid careers. This leads to the unrealistic standard that a modern woman should be a supermom and a top boardroom exec when those two things have such extensive time demands that it makes them almost mutually exclusive.

9. Being Nice but Not “Too Nice”

Assertiveness tends to get praised in men and curtailed in women. All too often, women get encouraged to place the comfort of those around them over their own personal feelings. Yet, this often places them in awkward situations when people mistake their kindness and affection for genuine interest.

Then, these same women will get rebuffed for leading someone along or for not being more assertive in their rejections. Walking this tightrope between “nice” and “too nice” is part of the female experience.

10. Paying More for Female Hygiene Products

Last but not least, the Pink Tax is an incredibly annoying part of being a modern woman. Paying more for the same razors that men use is but one example of this. Products used to manage your monthly period being taxed as luxuries are another.

Want to Learn More About What Modern Women Experience?

Despite the many steps forward we’ve taken, modern women still experience their fair share of struggles. Whether in the realm of Business or Love, you can learn more about the modern female experience by checking out our blog. We update each day with more articles like this one.