Have you ever accomplished something entirely out of spite? It’s common for men to underestimate women because of their gender, but time and time again, women prove they have the strength and intelligence to get the job done. Women flocked to an online forum to share examples of times men doubted their abilities, and the women went above and beyond to prove them wrong.
1. Becoming a Video Game Champion
Women have a tough time feeling included in male-dominated spaces like the world of video games. One commenter says she grew up as a huge gamer, but all the boys around her constantly brought her down because of her gender. “Now I’m better than every guy I know at video games, higher ranked in League of Legends and Overwatch, and soon I’ll be in the top ranks for Counter-Strike 2,” she boasts.
2. Leading a Fulfilling Life Without Kids
At age 56, this woman enjoys her single, child-free life. She’s exploring the world, spending half the year in India, but her ex-husband never thought she could be happy without him. “I’m not ‘dying alone with cats’ as my ex-husband said I would (although I’d rather do that than be with him),” she writes.
3. Lifting Weights
Men love to think they’re inherently more physically fit than women could ever be. But they’re wrong. One woman on the forum says men always used to tell her not to lift heavy things and to leave it to the men. Enraged, she decided to start lifting weights. Today, she can bench 200 lbs.
4. Middle Aged and Single
A 47-year-old woman constantly heard the message growing up that women had to find a husband and have kids to be happy. Now that she’s older, single, and child-free, she can confirm that she absolutely loves her life. In a few years, she’ll retire, and she plans to take months-long cruises to relax. “Men have no idea how much we do not need them,” she adds.
5. Windshield Wiper Installation
When one woman walked out of an auto parts store with new windshield wipers, two men in the car next to hers snickered and loudly mused that they thought she would go home and have her boyfriend install the wipers. The woman looked them dead in the eyes before grabbing her tools and getting to work. After she successfully installed her new wipers, the men hung their heads in shame.
6. Pool Team
Men tend to think bar games, like pool, are reserved for their gender. But one all-female competitive pool team proved them very wrong. One woman on the forum says her all-women’s pool team always got flack from the male teams. “They’d hit on us, make sexual comments, tell us how the rules worked.” All the women on her team refused to back down and tried their hardest to win every game. They ended up winning the league every single season.
7. STEM Degree
Despite discouragement from both her mother and her high school guidance counselor, this woman’s dream was to attend a top STEM university and graduate with a job in the field. But even though people told her she wasn’t smart enough to get in, she applied anyway. And she got in, graduated, and still works in the industry.
8. Director of Security
What do you see when you close your eyes and imagine a security guard? Big, buff men aren’t the only people who make fantastic security personnel. One woman in the field struggled to make others take her seriously. Despite the obstacles, she worked her way up from officer to dispatcher to managing the account for the contractor. “Then the client hired me as a security manager, and three months ago, I became director,” she says.
9. Pull-ups
At a tailgate for a football game, one woman came across a booth of U.S. Army recruiters who presented a pull-up challenge to win a free t-shirt. Men had to do 15 pull-ups to win, while women only had to hang from the bar with straight arms for 30 seconds.
When she asked why the challenge was so different for men vs. women, the recruiter said women can’t do that many pull-ups. So she decided to prove him wrong. She got on the bar and easily did 15 pull-ups. “I looked at the recruiter and asked if they wanted me to keep going. I did five more and told them to keep the shirt,” she writes.
10. Chopping Wood
When she was 13, this woman looked up to her older brother. She wanted to help him with the outdoor tasks rather than cook and clean with the other women, as everyone expected. But she knew she was strong enough to handle it, so one day, she took the opportunity to head outside and chop and stack wood all by herself. Once her brother saw her skills, he let her help him outside more often, and the two bonded even more.
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