UN Women Australia’s International Women’s Day theme for 2026 is Balance the Scales, and it’s been sitting with me all week.
When the opposite of “difficult” is “easy”, I’ll choose difficult every time.
But it does make me wonder what balance between those two ideas might actually look like. A world where women are not viewed as either “difficult” or “easy”.
Because that framing carries an uncomfortable implication: that a woman’s value is measured by how receptive she is to others. How agreeable. How accommodating.
I can’t remember many times where a man has been described this way. Instead, we tend to hear things like, “That’s just who he is,” or “That’s what boys are like.”
Society often makes allowances for men’s behaviour. It explains it away, minimises it, or accepts it as part of their nature.
What “Difficult” Really Signals
Which makes me wonder.
Does society believe our men are incapable of developing greater emotional intelligence and understanding? Do we believe they are unable to master the emotional tools that many women are expected to carry?
Or do we simply hold them to a different standard?
Because when conversations about equality arise, they are often dismissed as women wanting something more than what men receive. As though fairness itself is somehow unreasonable.
Awareness Is Not the Finish Line
Change is uncomfortable. But the reality of not changing is becoming far more uncomfortable.
When domestic violence statistics are being discussed in terms of a pandemic, awareness is no longer the problem. We already know these issues exist.
The real question is what we do with that awareness.
- Do we minimise it?
- Dismiss it?
- Point fingers?
- Pretend it isn’t there?
- Or do we create space for honest conversations about what needs to change, and the role we all play in creating that change?
Before This Is Misunderstood
Before my words are misunderstood, I want to acknowledge something that often comes up in these discussions.
“Not all men.”
“Women do it too.”
And I agree wholeheartedly.
Human First, Gender Second
Because the way I see gender is slightly different from what is often presented as the norm.
At the core, we are all human first. Our humanity should come before gender.
Yes, we are born male or female, and those biological differences exist. But our levels of masculinity and femininity vary greatly between individuals, and that diversity is part of what makes us interesting.
If everyone expressed themselves in exactly the same way, the world would be a very boring place.
Perhaps the real issue lies in the rigid stereotypes that surround gender. When people feel pressured to conform to a narrow definition of what a man or woman should be, it leaves little room for the many different qualities that exist within us.
If there was greater acceptance for those differences, perhaps people would feel safer expressing who they truly are.
Instead of the extremes we sometimes see, there might be more balance.
Learning Acceptance Without Shrinking Ourselves
I often wonder how much of the tension around gender comes from the shame and stigma people experience when they don’t fit neatly into those expectations.
When people feel that parts of themselves are unacceptable, they often try to reshape themselves to fit what society expects.
I think many of us have experienced that in different ways.
I know I have.
Like many women, I’ve wondered at times whether changing something about my appearance might make me more accepted or more valued by others.
But over time I realised that kind of acceptance would not be for the qualities that matter most to me as a human being.
Learning to find acceptance in our own imperfections can be far more powerful.
What Balance Looks Like in Practice
When I talk about men and women, what I’m really talking about are the qualities we often associate with masculinity and femininity.
And those qualities are not exclusive to one gender.
There are women who are tougher, physically and mentally, than many men I know.
There are men who are more emotionally aware, creative, or expressive than I am.
And that variety is not a problem. It is part of what makes each person unique.
For me, balancing the scales doesn’t mean choosing one side over the other.
It means creating a world where people are not judged simply by their gender, but by their character, their values, and their actions.
A world where people are not rewarded for tolerating poor behaviour, or criticised for challenging it.
A world where “difficult” belongs to the problem, not the person, and where those willing to speak up when something needs to change are recognised for the courage it takes.
Up Next in the Series
When we start looking deeper, we realise that many of the struggles we see in both men and women come back to something even more fundamental: our ability to communicate and express what we’re feeling.
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