Females living with lupus do not need to be praised for hiding their pain successfully. They need workplaces in which their credibility does not depend on concealment Every August, South Africa celebrates the strength and resilience of women. We speak proudly of women who persevere, carry families, lead organisations and hold communities together despite enormous pressure.
But resilience can become a dan- gerous compliment when it allows institutions to avoid changing. For many women living with chronic illness, being described as “strong” often means continuing to work while in pain, concealing exhaustion and protecting others from the discomfort of seeing that they are unwell. Their resilience might be admired precisely because the conditions forcing them to be resilient remain unchallenged.
This Women’s Day, 9 August, and Women’s Month, we should ask a more pointed question: What does it cost women to keep appearing well enough to be taken seriously at work? Our research explored the work- ing lives of eight professional South African women living with systemic lupus erythematosus, commonly known as lupus. Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that can affect different parts of the body.
Read Full Article on Mail & Guardian
[paywall]
Its symptoms can include pain, profound fatigue, cognitive difficul- ties, swelling and skin changes. The condition is episodic, meaning that a person might appear well at one moment and experience a serious flare-up at another. The unpredictability sits uneas- ily with the way most workplaces are designed.
Organisations tend to reward consistency, visibility and uninterrupted productivity. The ideal employee is expected to arrive, perform and progress along a pre- dictable path. Bodies, however, do not always cooperate with organisa- tional calendars.
[/paywall]
All Zim News – Bringing you the latest news and updates.
