12 things only strong women understand about themselves

Strong women are all around us.

Despite this, people still don’t understand that women aren’t any less than men. They’re equal with men in strength. 

But even if she grew up being told she’s weaker than men, a strong woman knows she’s strong enough to do anything she puts her heart to.

Strong women know they can be inventors and innovators, doctors and nurses, writers and illustrators, artists and activists, and so much more. 

Are you a strong woman? Read more below if you can relate to these 12 things only strong women understand about themselves.

1) Her will and determination 

Every woman has had to develop a strong will growing up, because there’s a lot the world tells her she can’t do.

When the world tells her that she’s too emotional to lead, she will lead with a pure heart and a gentle soul.

When people tell her she belongs in the house, she breaks out of the door and makes her own career. 

It’s this strong will and determination that drives her to go after her goals. Even if everyone tells her she can’t do something, she will prove them all wrong as she shows them that she can.

And she doesn’t only use this will for herself—she uses it to uplift other women, too.

2) Her skill to fight for herself and for other women

To be a woman means to be in a constant fight against the forces of the world.

And who else can support a strong woman but their fellow women?

The world doesn’t understand that a strong, empowered woman empowers other women in return. They believe a powerful woman wouldn’t want other women to threaten her power, but it’s the other way around.

A strong woman understands that when strong women are together, they’re more powerful than ever—that’s why a strong woman uses her power to uplift other women.

When she gets to the top, she doesn’t kick the ladder so other women can’t follow. Instead, she finds a way to create an elevator that gets women faster to the top.

3) Her strong sense of identity

A strong woman doesn’t listen to the world who tells her what she should be, because she knows who she is.

Society can impose that women must be submissive to their husbands, that they’re supposed to stay in the kitchen, to remain at home and take care of the kids, that they’re basically accessories to a successful man, but she will not listen.

That’s because a strong woman understands that she’s more than a leading lady to the man in her story. She knows she’s the main character who has her own goals and aspirations, and she knows she can achieve anything she puts her heart to.

Even when she sometimes finds herself in doubt, she will always figure out a way out of there, because she always knows what to do.

4) How she always knows what to do

Society does not understand that strong women always know what to do.

Even in the movies, women are treated as damsels in distress who never know what to do. 

When the characters find themselves in a difficult situation, she’s the one who turns to the guy and asks: what do we do now?

But as Reese Witherspoon said, “have you ever known any woman in a crisis situation who has absolutely no idea what to do?”

And the whole crowd cheers, because the answer is no.

Because a strong woman understands that while she likes to ask questions, the one thing she never asks is what she’s going to do next. 

No matter how hard the situation gets, she will always know what to do, and she’d be courageous enough to do it.

5) Her sheer courage

A strong woman knows that she’s not a fragile, porcelain doll only made for design. 

She’s not a pretty little thing whose only purpose is to be admired and objectified, because she’s her own person.

She can get mad at injustice, she can love without restraint, and most of all, she can face challenges even when she’s afraid.

Even when the world insists that she’s weak and fragile, that she’s a scaredy cat who runs to hide under her mother’s skirt when she sees a threat, she’s confident enough to understand that she’ll always have the courage to face her fears.

6) How she relies on her powerful intuition

Every person has heard, at least once, that a woman’s intuition is dangerously powerful.

In fact, women’s intuition is one of the things people mostly don’t understand about women.

But strong women understand that they can rely on their powerful intuition because when she feels something in her gut, she knows she’s right. 

That’s how she catches cheating partners, lying friends, and other people trying to take advantage of her.

But what is a woman’s intuition, exactly? Is it a psychic ability that only women are blessed with?

Well, there’s actually a science behind it.

One explanation is that women’s intuition is a result of social power dynamics. Because women have historically been given less power in society, they’re more observant and scrutinous of those in power, making them more receptive to powerful men’s emotions and body language.

Simply put, society thought so poorly of women that they had to evolve to be vigilant of men’s skills in order to prove that they’re not less than them.

This means a “woman’s intuition” is not exactly an intuition, but more like a skill developed to survive in the presence of men.

As Dr. Ronald Rigglo, PhD from Psychology Today said: the term “women’s intuition” may have been created by emotionally-clueless men.

In fact, it’s this powerful intuition that inspires a strong woman to be confident.

7) Her confidence

Women are raised to doubt themselves. 

Society constantly tells a woman that in everything she does, there’s always going to be a man who can do it better.

But as she grows older and learns better, a strong woman understands that it’s possible to break out of this prejudice and develop confidence.

That’s why she continues to break glass ceilings, and people would not be able to comprehend why or how she did that.

She grows to be confident enough in her abilities to become a doctor, an architect, a lawyer, a writer, an artist, and so much more.

She has great potential and she knows it.

8) Her potential

Everyone has potential—the difference between men and women is that the former’s potential never gets questioned.

It’s imposed on women that they’re nothing more than housewives, caretakers, and child-bearers. 

In the 50s, these duties were imposed on women, because it was highly normalized for wives to stay at home and tend to the children while their husbands go to work. 

This norm is the reason why society can’t comprehend that strong women exist, and they have great potential.

But while it’s valid for a strong woman to choose the domestic path and excel in it, she also understands that she has the potential to be something other than a housewife.

She believes in her own potential to go after her dreams and achieve them, even when all the rest of the world tells her she can’t, because she knows she can do absolutely anything she puts her heart to. 

9) How she can do anything she puts her heart to

There’s no doubt that a strong woman is ambitious.

While boys are taught to believe the sky’s the limit, girls are told they can’t be “too ambitious.”

But when a girl grows up to be a strong woman, she will learn that there’s no such thing. 

In fact, she can actually do anything she puts her heart to, and that she can be as ambitious as she’d like.

And when she learns that she can never be too much, she will also learn to love without inhibitions.

10) Her ability to love without inhibitions

People don’t understand why a strong woman chooses to love without restraint even with the possibility of getting hurt.

And when she does get hurt, she’s blamed for loving too much. She’s told she should’ve seen it coming, because she wasn’t careful enough.

But a strong woman understands that she can never love too much, even with the risk of getting hurt.

She knows that everyone should be allowed to love as much as they’d like to, because when we allow ourselves to care, the world becomes a better place for everyone in it.

In fact, she knows she lives a good life because of her ability to be vulnerable.

11) Her willingness to be vulnerable

Everyone thinks of a strong woman as someone who is emotionless, that she’s someone who can kick ass and do it with a straight face.

But this doesn’t paint an accurate picture of a strong woman.

Only a strong woman herself understands that more than being emotionlessly violent, vulnerability is a greater strength.

She knows that vulnerability is what makes strong support systems, what creates powerful, indestructible friendships, and what enables people to love without restraint. 

Being a strong woman is a powerful thing to be, and her vulnerability cannot ever change that.