Dubai: Quizzed about who is the most important woman in their life, thousands of people had only one answer - their mother.
In a Gulf News poll conducted on Wednesday to mark International Women's Day, out of 6,284 readers who took the survey, 68 per cent (4,492 people) said their mothers were the most important women in their lives.
Wives took second place with 15 per cent — or 931 people — voting in their favour. Daughters came third with six per cent of the votes. Bringing up the rear were bosses and nannies.
"The person I am today is the result of my mother's hard work and she deserves absolute credit for it," said Aamir Khan, a 34-year-old Pakistani aircraft engineer and proud father of a three-day-old daughter.
"I was beside my wife throughout her pregnancy and it made me realise the pain and hardship endured by mothers for the sake of their children," Khan said and added that what women do for their children was amazing.
‘Best person ever'
Badriya Ali, a 39-year-old Emirati training manager, said her mother is the "best person ever".
"The way she raised me and my seven siblings is simply incomparable. Even today she continues to help me raise my children," Ali said.
She felt the most powerful quality about mothers is that they never expect anything in return from their children. "All that my mother expects from me is to take good care of myself."
Kami Sanders, a 38-year-old American teacher, said she loves her mother for teaching her how to be a woman and to appreciate femininity.
"These days many women feel pressured to be more like men. But I am completely at ease about being a woman and my mother is responsible for that," Sanders said. "She also gave me my faith."
Mohammad Saleh, 23, an Egyptian sales executive, also said his mother is the most important woman for him. "After God she is the one who is the reason why I am in this world. And she made me who I am," he said and added that the next most important woman for him was his wife.
For Susie Cottam, a 46-year-old British homemaker, the most important woman in her life is her aunt.
"Because she is closer to me in age than my mother, I was always able to relate better to her," Cottam said.
Differing a little from the majority was Teklemaria Habtamu, a 26-year-old Ethiopian salesman, who said: "My girlfriend is the most important woman for me because she is the one who loves me the most in my life.
"After her, the next most important woman is my manager."
