I am a Saudi woman. I am not sure if this is widely known, but many Saudi women cover their faces with a piece of cloth known as the "Niqab." Recently, there has been an ongoing movement and hashtags on Twitter(X) addressing this issue. The reality for about 90% of women in our society is that they are left with only two choices: wear the Niqab, or face severe oppression—ranging from financial deprivation, being home jailed, or being barred from employment simply for choosing to show their faces. Tragically, in some extreme families, a woman's life can even be put at risk for making this decision.
This hashtag has been active for a month now, yet our voices feel unheard.

I wear the Niqab myself, and I can hardly describe the feeling of being completely shattered on the inside. On top of that, I suffer from respiratory issues, and wearing the Niqab has severely affected my health.
I sincerely hope you can support us and amplify our voices through the hashtag:
#2030_بلا_نقاب
I would truly appreciate your help and support.

Please tell me I’m not the only one whose self-defense instincts occasionally backfire so hard they want to evaporate on the spot.

Like most of us, I have had the safety drill beaten into my head since I was twelve. Walk briskly, keys between fingers, scan the perimeter, and always, *always* peek into the backseat through the rear window before unlocking to make sure nobody is hiding on the floorboards. It’s pure muscle memory at this point.

Well, tonight I walked out of Target around 9 PM. It was dark, I was exhausted, and I spotted my dark grey Subaru Outback. I walked up, cupped both hands around my eyes against teh glass, and aggressively squinted into the dark backseat like a SWAT officer doing a tactical sweep.

there was no serial killer. Just a very startled woman in the backseat quietly eating Taco Bell in the dark. We locked eyes through the glass for what felt like ten full seconds. I didn't even realize I had approached the wrong identical grey Subaru until she slowly lowered her chalupa with an expression of pure terror. I was so mortified that instead of explaining, I literally gasped and power-walked to my actual car three spaces over. I spent fifteen years learning to avoid parking lot creeps only to become one myself. How do you even recover from this?

Lack of focus, lack of sleep, perimenopause, ADHD or all the above?

A man told me women shouldn’t have sex if they don’t want to get pregnant, so I told him we shouldn’t eat food if we don’t want food poisoning.

Then he says abortion is murder but then proceeds to say it’s a woman’s responsibility to deal with the risks of pregnancy. Other than shooting him in the face, how do I rebut that? Thanks in advance

I don’t know how to explain this. I turned 30 this year and for the last 16 years, I was confused about my gender. I was always more masculine than other girls my age. I never liked overly feminine stuff like make up, wearing nail polish and skirts and dresses. I always felt good when people used masculine terms on me. For example when they’d call me handsome instead of gorgeous, or if they called me boyfriend instead of girlfriend. I spent the last 16 years thinking I was transgender but never really made a move to come out or transition because I was scared. I knew my family would never accept it and support me. I was already bullied in school for my weight and I knew if I told people there I wanted to be a boy, they’d bully me even more, So I never told anyone about it.

I am actually grateful for that now, because I came to realise, that I do not necessarily want to be a man. I still like being masculine, I still feel amazing when people use masculine terms on me rather than feminine ones. I don’t mind the she/her pronouns anymore, but I do go by any, so I don’t mind being called a he/him online. but now I have people tell me that I can’t be a woman and use masculine terms like handsome or he/him, because it’s contradicting. Why tho? There’s so many cis men that dress feminine and use feminine terms without wanting to be women. So why can’t I do the same? Why can’t I be a masculine woman and use both pronouns and get called handsome? I don’t get it. Am I not woman enough for people if I don’t dress feminine?

I'm 21 and in my first relationship. I moved in with him to escape abusive parents. My bf has made some comments that have kinda disturbed me. We got in an argument about whether rape victims should be able to have an early delivery post-viability or not, and he said that they shouldn't. I brought up that the fetus is using her organs and stuff and he said "that's just how pregnancy is" and "it's just life, you're a woman and you're pregnant" and "I don't care that the rape victim is forced to carry the pregnancy" which he then followed up with "I don't care in comparison to the fetus". Like that makes it any better. Like I get different opinions on this topic but his verbiage is just really really disgusting, because how are you gonna look at a raped woman, shrug, and say "just life because you're a woman"

I once referred to forced marriage as slavery and his response was a derisive "no it's not". He took that back later, but it disturbed me. Because even if you believe it's not technically slavery (which is wrong), being all 'erm acshually" about it gives me the same vibe as people who say "it's not pedophilia, it's ephebophilia" or whatever.

I have had close calls with men and have anxiety and sometimes I get triggered by thoughts of sexual assault. Just now was one of those times. I just suddenly remembered all the shit he's said and freaked.

Just a rant, really.

I don't mind the new wave of "bird" insults aimed at women as much as I do most woman-specific insults, because if you're going to put a woman down for something, her being obsessed with men is one of the less offensive things to choose. But at the end of the day, it's still misogyny, and it's so far removed from anything a man could experience. A man's love life, whether he's yearning after one woman, desperate for her, treating women like shit, or being faithful to one, will never shed much light on any other aspect of his life. He's always going to be a person first, before he's anything in relation to a woman.

His friends might mock him at first, and even then, not by much. A woman's treatment of and regard for men will always be made a priority in her life, at least in the eyes of everyone around her. Who she is to men, how she treats the men she wants, who wants her and who she wants back - fundamental part of who she is. You can hardly have a conversation about a woman without bringing her relationship to men into it at some point.

Whether we're shaming women for failing to "secure a man" and a husband, or shaming them for being so in love that they "waste" perfectly good candidates, other men, it's still a defining part of what her life would be. A woman picking a trash man means her life is over. A man can pick a woman who does nothing for him, who treats him terribly, who everyone thinks is beneath him, and he'll be fine. A woman picks a man who's no good, and she's stupid, ruined, finished, dead and buried. She's a tragedy. She's a fool. She's nothing.

There's nothing a woman can do to overshadow a man. Any man.

I saw a video of a very accomplished lady and she didn't have a ring on her finger, but she mentioned having a man of many years and everything everyone thought of her was such a loser.

I understand all of it, of course, women shouldn't be with trashy men - they overcomplicate their lives, they're bad for them but can a woman have a greater failure than failing to get herself a man and a greater crime than taking one. They'll always be our most prized possessions and greatest achievements. It pisses me off. The money I'd give for one aspect of this life to not center around them.

Dziewczyny mam pytanie, czy macie jakieś sprawdzone kremy na otarcia i podrażnienia pod piersiami?

Pracuje fizycznie, noszę staniki sportowe, bo tak mi wygodniej i niestety robią mi się otarcia. Obecnie smaruje sudokremem ale moze macie coś godnego polecenia?

Z góry dziękuję

The housekeeper just left my room & I’m pissed on a paying-guest level, but also on a woman-code level.

Literally within an hour of arriving at my hotel for a beach vacation I’ve been waiting for forever, my period started. It is super heavy, which isn’t normal for me, and my cup doesn’t seem to want to go in right. I ended up bleeding on the sheets and blanket. I felt mortified, so to be helpful, I stripped all the bedding myself and piled it up for the housekeeper.
When she came in and saw the pile, she asked, “What’s this?” I apologized and said, "I'm sorry, I got my period and had an accident."

She dropped her jaw a little, widened her eyes, and then rolled them. She was like, “Okkkkkk” before turning around to grab stuff from her cart.
Like, GTFOH. Isn’t managing laundry literally part of the job? Were you not planning on changing the sheets anyway? I haven’t even bothered staff to clean the room since I've been here because I keep it tidy, don't need much, and keep the Do Not Disturb sign up most days.

I already felt bad, but her reaction made me feel a million times worse. I wouldn’t jeopardize anyone’s job over something so trivial, so I won’t report or anything - I just wanted to vent. I hate when women do this kind of shit to other women.

Ladies who spent years living in survival mode, how did you take the mask off and find the REAL you? 🥹❤️‍🩹
What triggered your wake-up call, and what did your healing journey look like?
For me, becoming a FTM (first-time mom) changed something in me. It made me question so much about myself and the things I thought I knew.
I’m curious:
🪞 What did you discover about yourself that you realized WASN’T true?
🌱 What did you have to unlearn?
❤️‍🩹 How did you learn to stop surviving and actually start living?
Sometimes we become so used to being strong and guarded that we forget who we are underneath it all.
I want the REAL stories, not just the pretty side of healing. What did finding yourself look like for you? 🫂💕

I've kept hearing over and over women talking about how when they're around men, they hear them talking horribly about women in general. I definitely believe them. And this is just an example I am bringing up. I've also realized most men don't respect women. Not when they are alone, at least. I know there's obviously a few men who genuinely do respect women, but seriously, how small is that number?

Since the time I started elementary school, I’ve had people make comments about my appearance. I am sick of being ugly. I’ve had people tell me my nose to big and that it gets bigger when I smile, I have small teeth, my eyes are close together, I’m hairy, I have broad shoulders, big calf’s, swollen face, my hair is frizzy. These are all things people have said to me.

Ive always noticed my friends and sisters getting compliments, but I never have. Even from family. My sisters are gorgeous, but somehow God decides to give me all the bad traits.

I wear make up everyday but taht doesn’t even work. I’ve been through every hair style and length but my hair never fits my face. I have a very round face with a slight receding chin.

I’ve never been with a man because I don’t think I deserve one because I’m so ugly.

I’ve gotten a bit depressed since April so I’ve gain about seven pounds and it went straight to he face and stomach.

I don’t know. I just want to be beautiful for once in my life. I want people to compliment me.

They don’t regret not getting to know you, or missing out on spending more time with you.
The regrets that men have are about not making a move on you, or whoever else.
Their brains still just register women as figures, not real people.
Just checking the box, no matter who is in and around it

I just wanted to rant a little cause im embarrassed to admit this encounter did depress tf out of me just now. So I cant share the screen shots here anymore cause the person blocked me but long story short a had a guy dm me yesterday. We started talking and we were getting along.

Until a topic about relationship expectations came up today. I stated how I feel getting involved with men in this generation just for love is too risky and ive changed my standards and chosen to only get in a relationship with a man only if financial stability was guaranteed.

Well this man didnt agree with this and started a whole debate on why he thought that it wasn't going to work out for me because according to him a rich man is always going to choose a younger prettier girl who is "teachable" over me who is 32 and to "stuck in her ways"

His entire argument was that because of my age and because of my standards now im not as valuable than a younger woman who can still be taught. And that based on statistics a rich man is always going to cheat and i will need to accept the high probability that I'll need to share any rich man with a younger girl because at the end of the day they are still going to choose the younger girl even if the man is with me.

He stated thats how "society" works.

So this entire debate was triggered because I said I dont want to pursue a relationship with a man just for love anymore because its more risky to be emotionally involved with a man rather than just prioritizing stability and just choosing a man on that standard.

His responce was basically that only some women deserve that and that if there us a woman who is offered that she should accept that the man will eventually desire and choose another woman younger and prettier because she is easier to "teach".

He went on to say a load more a bullsht but I was done with the mf.

Like bro even wanted to contribute the existence of "male lonliness" epidemic on women and wouldnt stop insisting he was correct on everything he was saying because he has a very "high IQ"

LIKE....im seriously trying my best to heal from the damage men did to me in the past but they are not helping my case. Instead the more men I meet the less I want anything to do with them.

Haluaisin kuulla millaisia kokemuksia muilla on. Tiedän etten ole yksin kokemusteni kanssa, mutta en löytänyt aktiivista viestiketjua aiheesta.

Minulla on useita kokemuksia, joissa en koe tulleeni kohdatuksi tai lainkaan tosissaan otetuksi lääkärin vastaanotolla. Koen, että kipujani on vähätelty jatkuvasti ja vaivojani ei tutkita kunnolla. En yleisesti käy paljoa lääkärillä, arviolta noin kerran vuodessa, sillä yleensä koen tulevani vähätellyksi ja se raivostuttaa niin paljon, että vältän lääkärille hakeutumista. Mainitsen tämän korostaakseni, että hakeudun terveyskeskukseen vain tilanteessa, jossa olen aidosti todella huolissani. Kertoessani kivuista, otetaan lähes aina keskusteluun se, että olen maininnut aiemmin kokevani paljon dissosiaatiota, ja lisätutkimuksia ei tehdä. Kerran itkin ja hyperventiloin kivusta päivystyksessä. Olin ollut luovuttamassa munasoluja ja operaatiossa oli tapahtunut komplikaatio, josta ei ollut siinä vaiheessa vielä tietoa. Minulle annettiin särkylääkettä ja ohjattiin lähtemään kotiin ja tulemaan uudelleen, mikäli oloni pahenisi. En rehellisesti tiedä, miten oireeni olisivat voineet pahentua sillä oloni oli jo silminnähden aivan sietämätön, mutta siinä vaiheessa pystyin vielä virtsata (erittäin kivuliaasti) joten tilaani ei pidetty kriittisenä. Olin lähdössä kotiin, kun terveyskeskuksen ovella romahdin maahan kipujen voimakkuuden vuoksi ja minut otettiin vastaanotolle, jossa minulle puhuttiin edelleen todella vähättelevästi ja asiattomasti, kumppanini joutui kommentoimaan tätä, jonka jälkeen minulle tehtiin ultraäänitutkimus. Paljastui, että vasen munasarjani vuosi akuutisti verta vatsaonteloon.

Tänään asioidessani terveyskeskuksessa meluvamma epäilyn vuoksi, (olen töissä yökerhossa), minut otti vastaan todella ihana nuori naislääkäri, ajattelin saaneeni vihdoin korjaavan kokemuksen terveyskeskuksesta, mutta konsultoiva lääkäri ei uskonut minua ja totesi, että "kuulostaapa todella erikoiselta", Hän oli sitä mieltä, ettei baarissa voisi mitenkään soida musiikki niin kovalla, että se aiheuttaisi mainitsemani oireet ja totesi, että "Potilas todennäköisesti vain säikähtänyt kovasti, maininnut aiemminkin dissosioineensa"

me (f22) and my boyfriend (m21) have not been together for super long officially, but we have had a sexual relationship for around 3 months before we became official. i tried to keep things strictly sexual with him as we have a lot of mutual friends, but we ended up liking each other too much. he is so wonderful, and we have had no issues up until this point.

our relationship started with sex, that was all either of us wanted at first. i have never had an issue with sex with him, nor with any other man i’ve been with.

tonight he told me he wanted to try anal, and i was willing. i told him i was afraid it would hurt, but he reassured me and we tried- it really hurt. i immediately told him to stop, it hurt so incredibly bad. he stopped, and i started crying. it did hurt, but not THAT bad. nonetheless, i could not stop sobbing. full on sobs. i even had a panic attack lying on his chest and could hardly breathe.

he reassured me we wouldn’t do it again and felt so bad, and i told him it wasn’t his fault- that i didn’t realize it would hurt like that. but the way i was crying and the panic attack was like nothing i have ever dealt with sexually before, especially not with a boyfriend. i’m so confused by my own reaction, and im still getting emotional just typing this out. has anyone else experienced this?

i’d like to think of myself as a very emotionally intelligent person who has a good grasp at understanding my feelings and where they come from, but i just can’t stop thinking about what happened.

Or has anyone witnessed another girl get a strap violation?

Or has anyone gotten a violation for NOT wearing a bra (or witnessed one)?

Also, if they tell you “bra straps are distracting”, maybe they should control their eyes and not blame you. What do you want me to do, not wear a bra?

“You’re wearing a bra! Your straps are distracting!”

“You’re not wearing a bra! Your chest is distracting!”

Also also, have any of you ever (witnessed someone else) not wearing a bra in protest? What happened to the protestors?

Before anyone tells me I should have yelled at him, believe me, nobody is judging me harsher than I am right now. I’m sitting in my kitchen literally shaking with anger at myself.

I was browsing the fiction section at a quiet bookstore after work. A guy in his late thirties walked into my aisle, stood way too close to me, and made this deeply uncomfortable, suggestive comment about my body. I won’t repeat it, but it was blatant harassment.

Now, in my head, I’m a confident twenty-eight-year-old woman who takes zero crap. But what did my body actually do? I froze, gave this pathetic nervous giggle, and blurted out: "Haha, thanks, sorry, I actually have to meet my partner!" And then I hurried away like I was teh one who did something wrong.

why did I giggle? Why did I apologize to a man who literally cornered me? The second I got outside, this overwhelming wave of self-loathing hit me. I spent twenty minutes crying in my car, not because of what he said, but because I hated watching myself appease his ego just to survive a two-minute interaction. How do you unlearn this conditioned reflex to prioritize a strange man’s comfort over your own basic self-respect?

Hi ladies,
I’m 99,9% getting dumped this afternoon by this great guy I’ve been dating for approximately three months. I really, really like him.
The past month has been a little weird and on Monday afternoon this week I just had this insane moment of “fog clearing” and realised I’ve most likely been quite affected emotionally and psychologically by starting BC pills again (had to - just got a PCOS/PMOS diagnosis), and having initial side effects. And now I’m so sad that period, which is 1/3 of all of our time tighter had been what’s turned him away..
and I feel like telling him this sounds like the lamest excuse ever.
I just really hate the situation, I’m sad, a little nauseous and really not looking forward to 4 PM today. I do appreciate him for wanting to talk to me in person, but man, I really don’t want it to end.
I don’t know if I’m looking for any specific advice here, just needed to vent and tell someone how much this sucks.

National Commission of Women is not active at all, even after filling all details of opposite party even full address with phone number and email, they give response that complaint can't be registered for insufficient information, this has happened to me for 5th time , I lost faith in national commission for women.

The title is self-explanatory. I think I might only like women. I've identified as bisexual for the last few years, but after leaving my last relationship with a man, I've been rethinking how much I actually like men.
I know that I'm extremely attracted to girls (I didn't realize thinking they were objectively more attractive was an obvious sign😭), and I've had crushes on girls before, but I just don't really like guys. I thought everyone was overexaggerating when talking about how hot a man was or how much they liked him... and then I realized they were being serious.
For a while I was telling myself that I liked dating men because I "liked their personalities," until—after researching comphet—I learned it was probably more so because I like the heteronormativity of it. I like being babied & treated like a girl, and I like my relationship being seen as normal— which I felt like I couldn't really achieve in a wlw relationship because I'm very GNC and tomboyish, to the point where I was basically js treated like a guy the last time I dated a girl.

Sorry for the long ahh rant I lowk js had to get that off my chest...💔💔

I don't frequent this sub so I'm not sure if this is allowed here (do tell if not), but I am so tired and I just wanted a place to vent.

So I'm generally a rather feminine person, I like doing makeup for myself, wearing pretty outfits, all around I like to present feminine. I've been going through a rough patch however and I don't have the energy to put myself together, do my hair, brows, almost anything other than putting on some glitter to try and cheer myself up like two days out of the week. So I've mostly resorted to sweatpants and depression outfits instead of my usual fits and immediately I've noticed people treating me differently. I genuinely don't know if it's just the rough patch I'm going through warping my view of things but women and men both have been increasingly passive aggressive and back-handed with me and it's such a vicious cycle that it's led me to not want to leave bed or even step outside because I feel like a disgusting fucking ape whenever anyone talks to me. I've skipped all of my classes today, I plan on doing so tomorrow as well especially because one of the professors I'll have to deal with is a misogynistic dudebro, and all I've had to eat for today was some peach cobbler, an instant mug soup and tortilla chips. I feel terrible and there is nothing that can cheer me up.

I did have a good day a while ago where I actually managed to sort of pull myself together and I had two colleagues say they like my makeup and a random girl on the street that night stopped me to tell me that I look beautiful. Which made me feel wonderful and reminded me that this'll all pass and that things are not so bleak, but I still feel so so fucking sick of everything and of existing as a woman.

It feels like unless you are a perfect supermodel 24/7 you are a liability and a looney that should be avoided at all costs. God forbid you look like a person because only like 25% of people will treat you decently.

Before anyone says "just make new friends," please know I truly love the women in my life. But I’m sitting on my sofa right now feeling genuinely so drained and, honestly, kinda heartbroken.

I tried to set up a simple coffee catch-up with two of my closest friends yesterday. Not a whole weekend trip, literally just an hour at a cafe. What followed was a 40-message thread debating availability, someone suggesting a shared calendar poll, and teh earliest date that worked for everyone was seven weeks out. When did seeing your friends turn into an administrative nightmare?

I miss when you could just call someone on a Tuesday and go sit on their floor in sweatpants eating takeout. Now everything has to be scheduled months in advance, color-coded, and treated like a boardroom meeting. By the time the date actually arrives, everyone is so exhausted from work that half the time is spent complaining about how tired we are.

maybe I’m just being overly sensitive or romanticizing how things used to be, but it feels so isolating. Does anyone else feel like you have friends on paper, but zero spontaneous community in real life?