If there's one thing I have/will always vouch for, that's merit. Can never live with myself having gotten somewhere, not because I worked hard for it & deserved it, but because of something given to me by Allah that the other person could not change.

Unfortunately, the idea of being a woman = the only one with lesser opportunities, is the narrative that sells. That's what got that girl in the commonwealth essay her first prize. That's what will get you published in an elite journal as well over high quality glioma research.

We've all taken advantage of this narrative. I've taken advantage of this narrative too, when in a weak moment, I made a story up on a damsel in distress south asian girl in my CIE Eng Language paper, & ended up in an A*. It's been 7 years, I never forgave myself.

As a girl, I have been a victim of this as well. Looking at low quality research done on women in medicine getting published in elite journals while I wait for some journal to accept my research on the most killing tumour on this planet.

Women face a lot in terms of oppression and opportunities. The least we could do is to be kind & fair on our part, to not take advantage of our sexes, & to not strip others, lesser than us, but not females, off opportunities that could potentially change their lives.