Friday, February 03, 2012

Women Make the Market (and the World) Go Round

"A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water." - Eleanor Roosevelt
When I lived in Africa, my mom made a profoundly simple observation...we driving around my adopted town of Arusha, Tanzania and she said "It looks like it's the women here who do all the work.  The men just seem to...sit around".  I laughed out loud at this acknowledgment, because not only was it funny - it was 100% true.  Women do make the world go round.   I don't mean to throw men the world over under the bus or anything, but if you travel extensively - you'll quickly see that it's the women who seem to be doing the lion's share of work in a lot of places.  Idleness is not in our genetic makeup.  We are multi-taskers, we are silent warriors and we get things done.  We might not get all the glory and (globally speaking) we might not have all the power, but no one can deny that the world would be lost without us and our work.

My Uncle Tom made a similar observation about women at the Spice Market in St. Georges, Grenada.  Women young and old are doing it all - selling, wheeling, dealing and making things happen.  Some are hawking their goods like used car salesmen, while others sit quietly; patiently waiting by their produce for the right buyer.  Of course plenty of men are off doing work as well, but if you look closely, particularly here in the Caribbean, it's women pushing things forward.  There are a disproportionate amount of homeless men to woman begging in the street, you'll rarely (if ever) see a woman sitting at the bar whiling away the daytime hours getting drunk and you'll almost never see a woman who is not in some way, shape, or form working .  I truly believe that if society's listened more closely to their women, this world would probably be a much nicer place.   Just sayin'.

I love the market mama's the most.  Their faces and hands tell a thousand stories. 



Love,
Brittany & Scott

6 comments:

Pat said...

And if they listened more to women the world would be more peaceful as well!

Anonymous said...

Okay, Okay Okay, Women should run the world, we get it. How does that fruit get picked and to market if the women are at the market? Who plants the vegetables if the women are always at the market? I’m just saying is all…
And for the peaceful and better world idea, ever worked in an office full of women? Brutal!! More knives being thrown than at the circus! I have seen some ugly stuff at these markets. Those sweet ‘mammas’ can turn into ‘mothers’ in a flash if they think one of the others has an advantage or steals a customer!
That said, I wouldn’t want to live in a world without strong women. There’s no point in having success if you have no one to share it with whether you’re a man or a woman!

Carolyn Shearlock said...

Great post! Brings back a memory . . .

When we were at Lake Turkana, Kenya, our local (male) guide told us that it just looked like all the men were doing nothing while the women did all the labor -- in actuality, the men were keeping watch in case enemies attacked, in which case they would defend the village.

So one of the girls from our group asked how often enemies attacked.

"I don't know," he answered. "Not in my life. Not in my father's life. I don't think in my grandfather's life. Long time."

Yet the women worked every day.

andy said...

Beautiful post

Beverly (s/v Fugue) said...

I agree that women could make the world a nicer place. You have some great market shots. I especially like the quote from ER.

Mid-Life Cruising! said...

LOVE THIS!! There's such a strength in the face of an older woman that's lived her life working hard and being independent. Those are the women that make me proud! Love the quote at the beginning .. so true!

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