Give it a rest – women are allowed to have a whinge

The unsung women who keep soldiering on in spite of everything deserve a lighter load and should be allowed to say so, writes Lisa Mayoh.

Last week we featured a story getting to know media personality and comedian Em Rusciano, who candidly said “all women are tired” and other glorious titbits like doing morning radio was brutal and women need a lighter load.

All true, yes? Of course, social media erupted and the comments were just as brutal as her 4am alarms – the utterly predicable, sarcasm-dripping “yes, women do everything, men do nothing” lines amid complaints she was whingeing about her choices because, yes, men are tired too.

Comedian Em Rusciano said last week that all women are tired and worn out.

A day after International Women’s Day (IWD), can we all agree that men, women and children are tired. To survive in today’s Australia, everyone is working hard and everyone needs a break. Because true breaks – true rest, revive, survive stops – are as critical in the home as they are on the road, but we rarely take them, if at all.

I have a beautiful friend – Jessica Baird Walsh, in case you’d like to look her up – who has run at least 5km a day for 979 days in a row. She works full time, has kids and a busy life, but says if something is important, it should be a priority – so she gets up, puts on her shoes and gets it done. And has, every single day since July 2022.

She’ll keep running until she raises $1m for the Indigenous Marathon Foundation. She is remarkable.

The unsung women who aren’t household names but keep soldiering on deserve our undying respect.

Yesterday, in this paper’s IWD edition of Sydney Weekend magazine, we honoured incredible women who are changing the world. You would have heard of and respect every single one of them.

Today, I’d like to honour all the women who aren’t household names. Who aren’t curing cancer or being a voice for the voiceless, but who are getting up, putting on their shoes every day – despite how tired you are – and getting it done. You may be getting kids to school, putting food on the table or getting the dogs to the park, even if it’s 8pm by the time you do.

Maybe you fixed the washing machine by watching a YouTube clip. Mowed the lawn or tracked down the sandbags to save your house on the Northern Rivers from floods – again. Maybe your kid is getting bullied and you’re keeping that child alive.

Everyone - male or female - wishes they had a lighter load.

Maybe your puppy had to be put down just after you moved states. Your three-year-old still hasn’t slept a full night and you couldn’t face the world today ... but you did.

You’re all amazing. You’re all tired. You all wish for a lighter load, and you’re allowed to say so. Thanks for that, Em.

Enjoy your run today, incredible Jess. And to everyone else deep in your own personal marathons, you’ve got this, girlfriend. And yep: you’re bloody amazing.