Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
Education should widen minds. But does it really happen? Are those privileged ready to give up their privilege to abolish patriarchal traditions that are unfair?
Increasing education levels and formal recognition of women’s rights are expected to put a dent on patriarchal traditions, yet it is failing at some level. As a result of which, women making leaps in their professional and personal lives are not able to reap the benefits of their own achievements completely. Patriarchy is ensuring that stereotyped gender equations remain in popular culture. It slows down the speed of women and men who believe otherwise.
On a recent visit to one of the elite hospitals in Delhi NCR, I had a tough argument with the staff. With running temperature, constant coughing, low blood pressure and a rare viral skin infection, this was the last thing I wanted to do. I had pre-booked my appointment. When I started making the payment, to my surprise my name was written wrongly. The first name being correct but the last name being tampered with. My partner’s last name was written as my second name without my permission. It made me feel furious and helpless at the same time. Furious because my name was written in a way I did not want it to be and helpless because I had to prove what my name is.
I took out my Aadhaar card, PAN Card, Voter ID card and possibly all the identity proofs I had to prove what my name is. To my surprise, no apology came and the kind of confused look the staff offered me made me feel as if my demand is unrealistic. I was burning with fury inside yet I chose to calm down. That is what age has taught me; find pragmatic solutions more in situations when feminism is ‘Greek’ to people. I had to patiently explain to the hospital administration that why my name can not be tampered with without my permission and it should be a crime. Even the salutation you use (Ms/ Mrs/Dr.) should have my consent.
This is not the first time it happened. There was another incidence when on a holiday the tour Manager assumed my name to be used in certain way and I had to again show him my bunch of ID proofs to prove what my name is. He went a step further in assuming that the trip in the lavish resort has been gifted to me by my partner. After a brief argument on why sweeping assumptions are wrong, he agreed.
In a friendly banter during lunch my male colleagues without a fail would ask me, ‘so did you cook the lunch?’ After answering a couple of times that I have outsourced it to domestic help, the question was repeated several times. I answered, “We follow the same office timings Mr. Y and you know how hard it is to find time for cooking. You are really lucky to have a spouse who could do this for you. My spouse also works. So, we occasionally cook together during weekends.” He did not repeat the question again and would make his grey cells exercise enough before initiating any conversations. Much to my relief, most of them limited to work only.
Unwilling for direct confrontations, I heard people whispering, ‘Leave it. Angry Young Feminist. No point arguing.’ Unfortunate that we widely celebrated highly patriarchal ‘angry young man’ on the screen, we can’t tolerate ‘angry young feminist’ for the logical arguments she makes. She has to be ultra-polite if she decides to give an opinion contrary to popular culture.
All the three incidences made me feel handicaped and helpless. It made me realise I am reduced to somebody’s possession, an infantile creature needing external supervision, despite having proved my financial and intellectual freedom on several occasions in day to day life. What appals me is that why do I need to argue with these seemingly educated people on something logical? Is it a lack of awareness that there exists regarding heterogeneity in choices of 21st century women are making? Why is cultural code of conduct not moving according to the pace women are climbing up the ladders in personal and professional space.
It is a clear machination of custodians of patriarchy. Unfortunately, the believers are both men and women. What is unfortunate is the stereotyped gender norms around which the traditions are designed and the way naysayers are indirectly pressurised to succumb. So even if the law of my country has provisions for women to make their own choices; choosing not to take up my partner’s surname and having all my documents with my name the way I want it to be, patriarchal practices discourage the conducive atmosphere to practice these choices.
When I was going to register my marriage, I was also preparing myself on the way to explain it to elderly people in the family and officials in the registrar office that my name can’t be tampered with. Fortunately, they behaved much better than I expected and asked me questions in a very objective way. As a woman making a choice which majority of women do not, the situation was stressful for me. Even though, my partner was concerned, he did not undergo the same level of stress I underwent. This is the dent patriarchy puts in otherwise equal relationships and makes it unequal.
While many argue that customs like taking surname of husband’s family or wife moving to husband’s family after marriage is a normal tradition which keeps society in order, I strongly disagree. Had it been primarily about keeping the order, why is the custom gender specific. To clarify the point, an Indian female acquaintance of mine married a German man and he took her Indian surname. If it is about order and if a couple believes in maintain the social order, there should be a provision where a couple gets a choice to select the surname. It should be gender agnostic.
It is assumed that women take husband’s surname, get certified in cooking perfectly round chapatis even after working 10-12 hours a day outside home, becomes the custodian of husband’s family traditions or free-ride on husband’s financial resources despite making money of her own. Patriarchy makes it all sound absolutely normal, feminism does not. The popular culture shaped by patriarchy needs to be challenged by like minded men and women on everyday basis. Even if the change is slow, our future generations will thank us for bringing the change.
Published here earlier.
Image source: pixabay
Priya Tripathi identifies herself as a feminist, bibliophile, survivor and a runner. She believes her upbringing in small town in a highly patriarchal set up has been a blessing in disguise. It helped her to read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
Please enter your email address