JONA ROSE D.

BATION

FEATURE ARTICLE

The Silent Cry

Sitting by the window sill, with her laptop and class record at hand, my 45-year-old
mother computed her students’ grades one after the other with double precision. As the night
deepens, she slowly felt the exhaustion from the top to the bottom of her body. Her eyes were
watering, her brain was throbbing in pain, and her fingers were starting to feel numb from the
never-ending typing. She looks exhausted but I heard not a single complaint; not a mere sign
of discomfort.

I then diverted my attention back to my own study table. I scanned the entire room
and for the first time after who knows how long, I noticed how much things I own; my
laptop, my gadgets, our Wi-Fi modems, and my stationaries. At that moment, I realized how
much hardships my mom had to go through. Her fatigue is the price she had to pay for my
comfort. She continued to work despite her body’s craving for a soft cushion to dive into.
That’s when I fathomed how far a woman's sacrifices could go just to support her family and
loved ones.

Truth be told, women are silent fighters. They would sacrifice their bloods, sweats,
and tears just to feed their families and the people closest to their hearts. You will hear little
to no objections from them. They may rant at times but they will still do whatever you ask
them to; like how my mother would always reach out to her pocket every time I would ask a
small token of money for my school projects.

Women are selfless. They would always put the needs of others ahead of their own.
My mother has always given me all my needs and wants without demanding anything in
return for her generosity. As positive as it can be, being selfless also brings some negative
effects such as you might over-give yourself until you won’t have your own share to spare. If
you would give non-stop, then you might lose yourself leaving your happiness behind.
Women are silently selfless and they won’t brag about it because they are willing to offer
their all, unconditionally.

Women are natural born nurturers. Scientifically speaking, women are

biologically designed for nurturing a child, not only in their wombs, but also when they grow
in the real world. Imagine the pain that they would experience before and after giving birth to
their offspring. Despite all that, mothers would still provide them with their basic needs and
hone their skills in speaking, reading, writing, comprehending, listening, and socializing.
Even when the offspring grows older, the mother will still continue in nurturing her child and
she will also go to greater lengths to ensure the safety of her grandchildren. A military
surgeon, Oleksandr Zeleniuk, relayed that when the soldiers are in excruciating pain, they
would call out to their mothers with their face drench with tears and blood. This is the natural
impulse of the little child within them who yearns for their mothers’ protection. This goes to
show that a mother is naturally the number one mender and the primary refuge of her
grieving child.

Women are your silent comrades. Just like how Eve was made for the sake of
Adam, and how Michelle Obama assists her husband in dealing with the stress in governance;
every woman in this world are made with the purpose of being someone’s comrade-may it be
to their fellow women or the opposite sex or their children. There’s a famous quote from the
1940s that says, “Behind every great man, there is a wise woman”. I know what you might be
thinking; women do not deserve to be in someone’s back because we are all aiming for
equality. However, I’m taking about women being the greatest supporters. Notice that every
woman around you, like your mother, mother-figure, sisters, and female friends, they will
always root for you in any ways they can. For instance, when you will have a sports
tournament to participate in, the women who are closest to you will always put extra efforts
to make banners and to cheer for you throughout the whole event.

Women are capable of hiding their pains well. I think many females and female
students can relate to this especially when the red days would come. A professor of
reproductive health at the University College of London, Dr. John Guillebaud, has said that
the cramping pain felt by every woman during menstruation is "almost as bad as having a
heart attack." Just think about how bloody and monstrous they feel inside with their raging
hormones running through their veins. Can you imagine someone walking while having a
heart attack? Well, just take a peek at a lady who is having her period because the sensation
that she feels is exactly the same. Thanks to this kind of experience, women developed a
higher pain tolerance than men and are able to hide their pain really well.

Women are brave warriors. Historically, we used to live in a society wherein

patriarchal practices were mostly followed and women used to have lesser privileges than
men. Today, however, women's privileges are gradually equating with that of men's. It’s all
thanks to our courageous women leaders such: Encarnacion Alzona -who fought for women’s
suffrage; Leona Florentino – who fought for women’s right for education; and Elisa Rosales-
Ochoa – the first woman elected to the Philippine Congress. It also would not be feasible
without the assistance of the men in positions of authority who enthusiastically supported the
women's rights. Despite the challenges blocking their ways, women are willing to do all
kinds of things in their power in order to make all ends meet. If women are not brave warriors
from the very start, then we will not have our freedom to vote, our rights to have education,
and our rights to engage in whatever form of employment we want. If women are not brave
warriors, then no one would dare to bear a baby for almost nine months because the delivery
would either offer her extreme happiness or her own death. If women are not brave warriors,
then no one would take on the challenge of raising their own offspring for a lifetime. If
women are not brave, then what do we call them? With this being said, I hope we will learn
to appreciate women of various colors, backgrounds, ages, and socioeconomic classes.

The month of March is not the only month to commemorate women. We should
honor women every day, every minute, and every second of our lives. We don’t know the
pain hiding behind those precious smiles, thus, we need to avoid judging them so easily. If
you’re a man reading this, don’t take a female’s kindness for granted and don’t you dare
break their hearts because if you do, you are also tearing the heart of your own mother.
Women are great pretenders and they will act fine even though they are drowning with
negative thoughts and emotions deep inside. Be more sensitive and careful when you are
living or talking with one.

If you are a woman reading this, be proud of your own gender. Be proud of who you
are. I know the pain of a woman because I am a woman myself. Raise you head; chin up;
continue walking into the path because you are a woman who knows how to hold yourself
together despite all your silent cries.