Woe Woman?
I was at a wedding recently, where I saw different kinds of women- authoritative women, positive women, self-involved ones, those striking a fine balance between work and life... It got me thinking- what does it mean to be a woman today? Are we really liberated as we would like to think? Don't we still need to be a certain way and do certain things to be acceptable by our society at large?
I, who was raised by two women from different generations, got different reactions when I declared my wish to go on a sabbatical. But naturally, I expected varied reactions. According to my grandmom, I will be free to do what I felt like after I get married. And right now, I must fulfil my duty as a daughter and contribute to the daily bread. Whereas my mother, wholeheartedly supported the decision and left the choice to go back to employment when I feel like.
Did my grandmom's reaction subtly imply that I am not free to make a choice I want while I am at my own home? Will I be free to do what I wish only when I go to what she calls my 'true home'? Coming back to the wedding, I saw a mom-in-law being more favourable to the daughter-in-law who conceived with help of medication compared to the one who conceived naturally- either way, both have a baby, right? So why the comparison?
Gets me thinking again, do we really have a choice? Can we opt out of a chore if we don't feel like doing it, have lot of other things to do, have had a tough day at work or simply aren't feeling up to it? Why are women still judged for being a certain way or for failing to do a certain thing? Why can't she just be? Why can't she travel to where she feels like without being warned about thieves, thugs, or eve teasers or probable sexual predators? Even worse, why are some women left with the predicament of not getting to rent out an apartment because she is single?
In an age where we see women breaking all kinds of glass ceilings; in a time where we have motorwomen, women autorickshaw drivers, cabs for women driven by women and now even a women's bank, there aren't any satisfactory answers to these questions, right?
At the end of the day what does it make us- A Wow Wo-man or a Woe-man one whose woes have multiplied with her independence?
Tell me what you think.
I, who was raised by two women from different generations, got different reactions when I declared my wish to go on a sabbatical. But naturally, I expected varied reactions. According to my grandmom, I will be free to do what I felt like after I get married. And right now, I must fulfil my duty as a daughter and contribute to the daily bread. Whereas my mother, wholeheartedly supported the decision and left the choice to go back to employment when I feel like.
Did my grandmom's reaction subtly imply that I am not free to make a choice I want while I am at my own home? Will I be free to do what I wish only when I go to what she calls my 'true home'? Coming back to the wedding, I saw a mom-in-law being more favourable to the daughter-in-law who conceived with help of medication compared to the one who conceived naturally- either way, both have a baby, right? So why the comparison?
Gets me thinking again, do we really have a choice? Can we opt out of a chore if we don't feel like doing it, have lot of other things to do, have had a tough day at work or simply aren't feeling up to it? Why are women still judged for being a certain way or for failing to do a certain thing? Why can't she just be? Why can't she travel to where she feels like without being warned about thieves, thugs, or eve teasers or probable sexual predators? Even worse, why are some women left with the predicament of not getting to rent out an apartment because she is single?
In an age where we see women breaking all kinds of glass ceilings; in a time where we have motorwomen, women autorickshaw drivers, cabs for women driven by women and now even a women's bank, there aren't any satisfactory answers to these questions, right?
At the end of the day what does it make us- A Wow Wo-man or a Woe-man one whose woes have multiplied with her independence?
Tell me what you think.
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