What It Means To Be A Dignified Woman
- Serena Koh
- Oct 20
- 2 min read
This is a little piece to expound on a previous article I posted.
Since I was a little girl, my mum would always tell me that no matter how little money we may have, we should always stay dignified. We should never beg for anything so that we can hold our heads up high.
It’s not arrogance. It’s a posture of dignity.
Have you seen an old lady who always comes across as rather dignified? It’s not about whether she’s wearing expensive clothes with pearl necklace, speaking in a British accent. It’s about how she carries and takes care of herself.
Being dignified doesn’t cost any extra money, but it does require some effort.
Firstly, a dignified woman has to look well put-together. That means to take care of our physical appearance. That would translate to proper skincare, haircare, appropriate makeup with appropriate clothing style to match our body shape.
It’s not about looking beautiful or perfect. It’s just self-care.
Managing our emotions is the next thing we have to do to becoming a dignified woman.
A dignified woman should look unhurried. So even if we’re in an unfavourable or tense situation, we should still articulate our message in a calm tone of voice, yet assertive. Just because others are raising their voices doesn’t mean we have to match them.
For me, I’d do the above even while smiling, to throw people off their game. That’s my act of defiance. 😜
Lastly, a dignified woman would always talk to every human being with respect. Even if a person is an a**hole! That’s where managing our emotions had to be conquered first!
The truth is, being dignified is a whole way of life.
The Japanese are a group of people who have a very dignified way of life. Even their homeless are hidden out of sight. You’ll never see them asking for food. They simply look for food discreetly by themselves.
I can share a long list of the things or behaviour you’d never catch me doing in public. But I’m afraid you might start to wonder if I used to be a teacher in a convent deportment school. 😄
Honestly, when you’re able to embody the 3 qualities above, you might eventually catch yourself taking bigger strides as you walk; unconsciously smiling to your servers as you order your food; frowning less often; helping a stranger in need.
You’ll be surprised that if we can get these all together, we’d naturally command a quiet respect from the people we encounter.
“Self-respect, dignity and grace are very important. You may look a certain way or come from a certain background but when you have these three qualities you stand apart from the crowd.” — Esha Deol
If you’d like to support my work and buy me coffee 🍵, please go to this link ko-fi.com/serenakoh. This would greatly encourage me to continue writing and improving. 😉
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