Spotlighting Remarkable Women and Girls

The Tiredness That Sleep Doesn’t Fix

By Ese Anita Ogaga

There is a kind of tiredness sleep does not fix. Not because women are weak. Not because we are failing. But because many women are carrying entire systems silently in their minds every single day.

The appointments. The groceries. The school reminders. The emotional needs of the children. The unpaid bills. The endless mental checklist that never truly switches off.

Even in moments of rest, the brain is still working. That is mental load.

And the truth is, many women have become so used to functioning under pressure that they no longer recognise how exhausted they truly are.

Society often praises women for “doing it all,” but very few conversations acknowledge the emotional cost of constantly being the planner, nurturer, organizer, peacemaker, and emotional anchor for everyone else.

Women are expected to remember everything. Hold everything together. Show up for everyone. And somehow still appear okay.

But beneath the routines and responsibilities, many women are quietly overwhelmed and drowning in stress.

What makes mental load so heavy is that it is often invisible. You cannot always point to it physically. It lives in constant anticipation, emotional monitoring, overthinking, planning, and carrying responsibility for everyone’s wellbeing.

For mothers especially, the load can become deeply consuming.

Many women are not only raising children physically; they are managing emotional development, school expectations, behavioural concerns, nutrition, routines, family wellbeing, and their own silent struggles all at once.

And for mothers raising children with additional needs, the emotional weight can become even heavier. The advocating, researching, worrying, attending meetings, planning therapies, masking exhaustion, and constantly trying to “get it right” can quietly drain a woman emotionally while she still appears functional on the outside.

This is why women’s wellness cannot only be reduced to skincare routines, spa days, supplements, or occasional self-care trends.

True wellness must also include:

  • emotional support
  • rest without guilt
  • nervous system regulation
  • shared responsibility
  • safe spaces to be vulnerable
  • communities where women feel seen beyond what they produce for others

Healing begins when women no longer feel pressured to carry everything alone.

Sometimes the most healing thing a woman can hear is:

“You do not have to do this by yourself.”

Because wholeness is not found in perfection. It is found in support. In softness. In humanity. And in allowing women to exist as people, not just caregivers, fixers, and survivors.

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Raising Women Magazine Issue 54 – October 2026

“Because you’re a girl.”
Four little words that have spent generations doing an extraordinary amount of damage. Apparently, ambition, intelligence and audacity were once considered rather unladylike.
Fortunately, the girls featured in our 54th edition missed that memo.
As we celebrate the International Day of the Girl Child, we spotlight twelve remarkable girls rewriting the rules, while reminding ourselves that a girl should not need extraordinary achievements to deserve ordinary opportunities.
We also explore the expectations that complicate girlhood, the childhood wounds we carry into adulthood and, in my Find Her Light reflection, why the girl I once was might have a few lessons for the woman I have become.
Perhaps our greatest responsibility is not simply raising girls to conquer the world, but ensuring they never have to shrink themselves to belong in it.
Because you’re a girl?
What a wonderful reason to dream without limits.

Raising Women Magazine Issue 53 – September 2026

Apparently, saving the planet comes with a shopping list. Solar panels, electric cars, sustainable fashion and, preferably, a bank account that understands the assignment.

In Issue 53, our cover woman, Professor Joyashree Roy, challenges us to reconsider what sustainability really costs, who pays, and why the cheapest choices today may leave tomorrow’s generations with the bill.

But this issue is also about the invisible price tags attached to everyday life. From passport privilege and the cultural expectations of a “good woman” to motherhood, personal boundaries and the delicate art of enjoying life before finishing every task, we examine the systems shaping our choices.

We also celebrate women turning overlooked problems into extraordinary opportunities.

Perhaps progress begins when we stop asking only what things cost and start asking what they are worth.

A better world should not be a luxury reserved for those who can afford it.
Happy reading!

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Raising Women Magazine Issue 52 – September 2026

This issue asks a deceptively simple question: can we save the planet without making ordinary people pay the highest price?
Our cover star, Sascha Gabizon, brings that question sharply into focus, challenging us to think about climate action not only through carbon, but through fairness, access and gender. Because going green sounds wonderful until sustainability becomes something only the wealthy can afford.
Across these pages, we follow climate change into unexpected places. Into our wardrobes, our food, our cultural traditions and even the price of our morning coffee. We also continue our important First Daughters conversation, explore what women really mean when they speak about safety, and look at 111 Miss World contestants whose purpose projects remind us that beauty today carries increasingly bigger expectations.
This edition is ultimately about responsibility, but responsibility shared fairly.
Because saving our planet cannot become another luxury.
And perhaps the greenest future is one everyone can actually afford.

Raising Women Magazine Issue 051 – August 2026

Equal. Such a small word for such a complicated idea.

In this issue, we ask a question that feels almost impolite after decades of progress: women have more rights, education, income and influence than generations before us, but are we equal? We have travelled remarkably far, yet full global gender parity remains generations away. Apparently, equality is taking the scenic route.

Issue 51 looks beyond the equal sign to what equality actually feels like in women’s lives. We follow the money, the power and, importantly, the hours women still disproportionately spend caring. We also explore women’s old financial systems, workplace design, the soft life economy and the changing meaning of opportunity
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Progress deserves celebration. But celebration should never make us complacent.

We have opened many doors.

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