1) We idolized her; not as the submissive, coy, charming goddess but as the epitome of a powerful goddess with many hands; rendering her as a multi tasker who can manage office work, housework, takes care of the needs of her family and many more.
2) We told her, her primary job is taking care of the household. At the same time we saw her as free spirited and independent as she stepped outside her home to work, rubbing shoulders with her male counter parts. She needed a break from the monotony of housework. She works for the exposure, for independence.
3) The old school of thought had designated roles for each gender. The onset of the new feministic ideals gave her the right to choose to work outside. However, we forgot to delegate her primary roles, which was imposed on her from the previous generations. As a result, she became more stressful and overworked.
4) Twinkle Khanna the Indian author was once quoted as saying, “ as I got ready to go to my big book launch event, the cook asks me what to cook for dinner? The man of the house is sitting around the house and no one asks him.” Moral of the story : the onus still completely lies on the woman.
5) In a standard middle class family ‘the working woman’ is working just for fun, her earnings are like the sides in the main dish. “Take it easy, she is told. You don’t have to put all of yourself in to your work.” That’s nonsense. How can you do something without putting all of yourself in to it. Most of the times she works without the prospects of growth in her chosen field cause end of the day the main expectations from her is meal making, family nutrition, home management.
6) On face value, the men have understood equality and feminism, but we forgot that these men are not at all empowered and he is still completely dependent on women for the basic necessities of life!
Now I really hope our perspectives are clearer for the millennial, generation z and alpha women. All we need to do is erase out the classic stereotypes and empower our men and epitomize them too as the God with multiple hands, liberating every one from the unspoken pacts that we have got ourselves into!!
Such a lovely write up !! Keep it coming
Cheers!!! Well written Rekha
You nailed it, absolutely right...we haven’t worked for fun...no break from the monotony of housework...always there back of our minds...who is responsible for making men dependent on women for tge basics??? Ans. is obvious 😀
Hi Rekha, this is such a realistic opinion and I vouch for it. It so true especially about middle class working women.