Women & Self Esteem

Even women who seem to have it all together and know who they are and what they want tend to be among those who suffer from low self-esteem.

Women seem to be the ones who suffer the most from low self-esteem and the after effects. The media has exploded so much in the last few decades that it has lent itself to an increasing demand for women to look perfect in all aspects. The media has exploited the female population by displaying the false illusion of a perfect woman. It tells women that they will be liked if they wear the right clothes, have the perfect family, or the successful career.

They consistently underestimate their own ability. When asked how they think they'll do on different tasks--whether the tasks are untried or ones they've encountered before--they give lower estimates than men do, and in general tend to underestimate their actual performance.

Good self esteem comes from learning that one can accomplish by oneself--that one can rely upon one's own abilities, can trust one's own judgment. Women are often not given enough opportunity to learn these things. Eventually they internalize the idea that they can't succeed in meeting life's challenges on their own.

According to Dr. Bernat, "There is substantial evidence in non-psychiatric patients showing that males have higher self-esteem than females. It is not clear if this difference is trait and thus related to the cultural aspects of society, or if it is a combination of several factors. However, cultural factors are likely to be important, since over the past 30 years the self-esteem of women appears to be decreasing."

The thing that most women don’t realize or understand is that confidence comes from within. It’s not something that can be handed to you. It’s not something that you will experience after you’ve reached a certain level of perfection. Self-esteem is something that you must cultivate from the inside. Then and only then will you be truly happy and confident in yourself....