A blog post by Pepetoe.

The Contradictions Women Live With

Being a woman today is strange in many ways. On one hand, we’re told we can do anything. We’re encouraged to pursue careers, travel the world, start businesses, and live independently. Society celebrates “empowered women” more openly than ever before. But at the same time, women are still navigating a maze of expectations.

You should be ambitious, but not intimidating. Confident, but still humble. Successful, but still nurturing.

It’s a delicate balance that often feels impossible to get right, and social media doesn’t make it easier.

The Impact of Social Media

Social media has amplified many of these pressures. Every scroll presents a carefully curated version of someone else’s life. Perfect bodies. Perfect apartments. Perfect morning routines. Perfect relationships. Even when we know those images aren’t the full story, it’s easy to compare ourselves.

Women are constantly exposed to unrealistic beauty standards: tiny waists, flawless skin, perfectly styled lives. And the more we see those images, the more normal they start to feel. The reality is that many of those standards are simply unattainable.

I spend a lot of time online due to my profession, and I’ve also experienced first-hand how damaging social media can be. Not only is there the toxic standards of models and influencers showing off their “dream” bodies, but it’s also more of comparison on daily things, like the life “we’ve always wanted” of the girls living their influencer-esque lives out in Bali or Dubai. Despite us taking a pinch of salt with everything we consume online (and I believe a good proportion of us do), it can still feel a little overwhelming at times, and obviously that’s not just for women but men too.

If we also look at body standards involved in the fitness space, this is also confusing. You have the “lean” pilates girls, then the “strong” weightlifters, then the “in-between runners”. It can be hard to navigate what the current “body standard” is, because there’s so many of them, and so many people we should be all of them. I’m not saying here that there has to be a standard to follow at all, more for impressionable young women, I fear them witnessing this constant back and forth, when for them, they look for standards and trends and people to follow to feel like they belong.

Social media can be inspiring at times, but it can also quietly erode self-worth if we’re not careful.

Career vs Family: The Impossible Question

Another pressure many women still face is the question of life direction.

Should you focus on building a career?
Should you prioritise family?
Should you try to do both?

Society seems to expect women to somehow balance everything perfectly. At the same time, there’s been a noticeable cultural shift recently where more traditional family structures are being romanticised again, where men are seen as the breadwinners and women are expected to take on more domestic roles.

There’s nothing wrong with choosing that path if it’s what you genuinely want. But the important word there is choice. Women should feel free to design their lives however they want without judgment. If that means you want to do both, then do it! If not, then don’t. You can choose your own life path (anyone can), and you shouldn’t let anyone tell you different. The only thing that matters if you want to do it, and you believe that you can.

Progress… But Not Equality Yet

In many workplaces today, women are thriving. I look around my own office and see so many incredible women in leadership positions. Women who are talented, confident, intelligent, and respected within the company. But when you look at the very top of many organisations, the imbalance still becomes visible. Most CEOs are still men. And the pay gap still exists. Progress is happening, but we’re not fully there yet.

And acknowledging that reality doesn’t mean we’re ungrateful for progress. It simply means we’re honest about the work that still needs to be done.