#‎Lionesses‬: Women who inspire us (the unpublished article)

A month ago I took part in a competition to get a chance to work in a magazine. I won the first stage but lost in the semi finals, and boy was it ugly!! During the competition I had an article on my mind that I wanted to write if ever made it into the finals but since I failed to do so I decided to publish it here, on my blog,  since I can write anything here. Today's article won't be about books, instead it's going to be about women. 

But I won't talk about women in your good old stereotypical way, no I won't talk about boobs, how to deal with them as if they are some sort of third rated animal or whether or not the belong into the kitchen. No, I am going to talk about heroes or in our case heroines.I talked about the fact that we might need good examples, bright ones to make us feel inspired so I'll talk to you guys about women who inspired me to do something or helped me at some point in my life. Some of these women might be a bit famous and some might be ordinary women who you meet everyday like your teacher (in a good way you perv), or may be a manager of yours or even your mum, so let's start the damn thing. 

1) Horrible bosses?? Nop,,,

I worked in 3 different places, two of them I was managed by women and by god they are two of the best people I've ever met in my life. The first one, I met her back in summer 2012 during my summer internship at a public institute. Thing about internships is that they suck and you get bored really fast because most of the time or at least here in Egypt the most exciting thing you will do is copying papers and discover how white the fluorescent lamps are. So I wasn't having any high expectations until I met my manager. She taught me a lot of things, new things that I didn't know. She promised me that by the end of the internship I will have new skills that I could add to my C.v so with her help I knew more about planning and new softwares that I had no idea how they worked.  She even let me help out in some of the institute's projects, I was so happy and excited that I stayed till the end of summer so thank you where ever you are.

Let's be honest, working in a retail is a shitty experience. You almost work everyday, you are underpaid, you deal with dickheads and don't forget the asshole aka the mystery shopper and as time goes by you die a little from the inside. But for me, there was always this light at the end of the tunnel. Imagine you arrive in the morning to find out that your boss is giving a hand and helping you with the display? This woman I'm talking about was more than a boss, I consider her a friend. If we wanted to discuss stuff like having other careers she won't act like a manger, instead she will act like a friend. I remember when she  encouraged me to buy a bike (ehich I eventually did) my mum was against the idea but my boss was like ''do it, you idiot!! don't waste time!!''>I also love the fact that every time I run she writes something to encourage me  and I won't forget that she was the only one at work who asked me about I did when I took part in my first half marathon a year ago and she was really excited for me and my friends. She also used to give us days off or vacations if we needed to do something besides work that might help us in the future. Believe me it is things like these that made me and my friends forget about the shit that we face and stay at work. 

2) Lionesses 

Back in 2012 I used to be fat, and I didn't like it. I wanted to change but I didn't know how but two things inspired me 1) Jessica Ennis and 2) Women's football. Women's football is an inspiration by itself. A lot of people used to make fun of women's football but nowadays women make people proud of their teams. England's women's football team managed to make people including me get excited for their country's team. People finally are proud of their team. They managed to win the bronze medal for the first time in their life and the first time England reached that high in a world cup (even the men's team couldn't do that with all of their money and fame). The English women team weren't household names but I bet your ass that they are now. Finally People started to give attention to women's football, people are actually proud of this team and what they did!! Even in the USA players like Alex Morgan are household names and helped to make football famous in the USA. THE USA team made me get into women's football in 2012 at the Olympics and I was in love but England's team made me proud, thank you ladies. You have to admit that these women are passionate and that's why people started to get behind them. The don't get paid much like the men, some of the women players don't have clubs to play for but I think they like what they do and they want women's football to be recognized me and for this you should feel inspired. 

3) the mysterious N

I love running, and I found out that Instagram is a great way to get inspiration. My friends don't run that much, fact is most of them aren't that active. But thanks to groups like Cairo runners I don't miss a run plus I lost weight but I've to thank the mysterious N for her help. I don't know her and she doesn't know me but I follow her account on instgram. She talks about her runs, her equipment, her recent achievement she might not be famous but I have to thank her for the boost that she gives to me before I run. You don't have to be famous to become a hero. 

As for my biggest inspiration, my mum, she did a lot to help me but an article won't be enough to describe how my mum played a huge role in my life. Thank you mum... 

Some people might not realize this but women play a huge part in our lives and it's a matter of time in countries like Egypt that people will start to realize that women deserve to be treated equally to men, that women don't have to end up getting married and having children. That women aren't about what they wear or how they look like. That women have the right to do the stuff that other men do like running without hearing shitty words from the passer bys, that they could walk safely in the street without being looked at as a way to satisfy sick sexual fantasies, I hope that I will be able to see this when I'm alive. But on the other hands some women should stop acting like victims and start doing something about it and as Pearl Jam said before:

The North is to South what the clock is to time
There's east and there's west and there's everywhere life
I know I was born and I know that I'll die
The in between is mine
I am mine