A woman's worth

In the last couple of days, we have been bombarded with articles on destiny and also how the prior marital status of Ms Markle did not matter and she got married to a prince. On some points, these articles are aimed at giving hope to those women who have left behind unhappy relationships but they overall come out to mean that a woman's worth is determined by the man who decides to marry her.
A woman's worth is not determined by who she marries, rather it is determined by what life choices she makes. Her qualifications, her talents, the stand she takes on various social issues as well as in her own personal life are the determining factors. A woman is worth more than her wedding ring. She is an equal partner in a marriage. Her opinions and her preferences are equally important. She has equal rights and equal responsibilities in a relationship. It is not a fairytale where she is a damsel in distress needing knight to rescue her. She is the creator of her own destiny. So just demeaning her by saying that she got a 'good' husband irrespective of her past status is not the right approach. The right way to address is by saying she found an equal partner who acknowledged her worth. Because a woman is worth much more than her marital status.

Bullying

Ikea did an experiment with plants in a school where it asked school children to praise one plant and bully the other with both the plants being kept in identical conditions. At the end of the experiment, the praised plant was healthy while the bullied one was wilted. Though exactly how the words had an effect on the plant growth is uncertain, the experiment helped raised awareness about the effects of bullying on the well being of an individual. Whether its a child or an adult, nobody is immune from the effects of bullying on their mental well being which then translates into their academic or professional work. Bullying can have serious effect on the mental health of children with many growing up with low self esteem or failed careers and relationships and even ending up with mental ailments or even suicide. Raising awareness about bullying is very important especially in young children who learn by imitation. It's important to teach them to stand up against bullying and protect whoever is the victim. Raising awareness will not only help the victims but will also help the child who stands up in support.