Are women their worst enemies?

The most grueling US elections are over. On Wednesday, many women woke up to the shock that Donald Trump has beaten Hillary Clinton.

To say that it was a ‘historic upset’ would be an understatement. We had gone to sleep on Tuesday night hoping to wake up to a woman’s win but tables turned in favour of a self proclaimed bully, sexist and a racist.

Well, I don’t know what to say but I know there were a lot of factors at play when it came to the US elections. I have always believed women have the numbers and perhaps have opportunity to decide who lead them.

Well, Hillary had her flaws but that strength and bravery that radiated from her face through the campaigns and debates was the most awe-inspiring thing that many women will live to remember. She put on a good fight and even her opponent acknowledged that while giving his victory speech.

Let’s go back to the vote: Did women fail to raise enough numbers? Well, that is left to experts on elections and voting but I know many women are in fear since sexism and white backlash is what the election results seem to reflect. Vices won over virtues. I will live that to the Americans to determine.

While I am not blaming American women for letting Hillary down per se, this got me talking with one of my colleagues about women and their fellow sisters. Are we our worst enemies? I know there is no need to generalise that all women deserve to be leaders because some are not just cut for leadership role.

We have seen several companies with women in decision-making positions but do not change the welfare of their fellow women. In fact in most cases, women performance stagnates due to frustrations from their fellow women. Why have women formed a habit of shutting other women out when they ascend to higher positions? Is it that we are so distrusting to a point where we cannot mentor our sisters to rise?

We need to wake up and realise that there are many opportunities out there for women who help others soar. There is enough room in our boardrooms, legislative assembly and even State House for all the women.

With all the odds working against us from all directions, let’s hold hands together and embrace each other without feeling threatened. We are our sisters keepers.

Janet
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Twitter: @JanetOtieno