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Yes, family is important, but at what cost? What about the autonomy and dignity of the woman on whose shoulders the importance of family is loaded...?
Yes, family is important, but at what cost? What about the autonomy and dignity of the woman on whose shoulders the importance of family is loaded…?
I want to ask people (men and women) who keep asserting the importance of family – why it has lost its importance?
If cooking meals, washing and cleaning, keeping the house neat and tidy, taking care of kids and the elderly is so important, more important than working and having careers, why do they shun from doing it themselves?
Why do such people who keep talking about the importance of family force only women to do all these things? Now that women are going out and learning new skills, why are these people becoming insecure?
Instead of solving problems by sharing household responsibilities they are hating women for learning something new. Just because they have to learn new skills too?
Why do these people keep blaming women and the western culture for forgetting the importance of family?
Why do women not allow their sons to work in the house? Why do men not participate in household work on their own?
Since when did working in the house become shameful? Are the women who are homemakers less important?
Women are not supposed to work outside as that becomes ‘disrespect’ for elder members of the family. If this is the way to disrespect elders, then aren’t men who work disrespecting them too?
Working men are considered hard workers and homemakers as just plain lazy. Why do people feel that working in the house doesn’t take up energy or it’s easier than working in offices?
Will the house be cleaner only if a woman cleaned it? Will the stomachs of kids and elderly be filled only when a woman feeds them? Or the laundry come out spic and span only if it was a woman who’s doing the washing?
Working at home or working outside is still work. It takes energy, skill and determination. Family is always more important than work but it is the responsibility of both the woman as well the man. Only then can the family work as a unit. Let us make family important again.
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If her home and family seem to be impacted by her career then we expect her to prioritize her ‘responsibilities at home as a woman’ and leave her job.
The entrenched patriarchal norms have always perpetuated certain roles and responsibilities as falling specifically in the domain of either men or women. Traditionally, women have been associated with the domestic sphere while men have been considered the bread winner of the household. This division of roles has become so ingrained in our lives that we seldom come to question it. However, while not being questioned does give the system a certain level of legitimacy, it in no way proves its veracity.
This systematic division has resulted in a widely accepted notion whereby the public sphere is demarcated as a men’s zone and the private sphere as belonging to women. Consequently, women are expected to stay at home and manage the household chores while men are supposed to go out and make a living with no interest whatsoever in the running of the household.
This divide is said to be grounded in the intrinsic nature of men and women. Women are believed to be compassionate, affectionate and loving and these supposedly ‘feminine’ qualities make them the right fit for caring roles. Men, on the other hand are allegedly more sturdy, strong and bold and hence, the ones to deal with the ordeals of the outside world.
Investing in women means many things beyond the obvious meaning of this IWD2024 theme, as the many orgs doing stellar work can show us.
What does it mean to invest in women?
Telling the women in our lives how great we think they are? That we value the sacrifices they have made? (Usually though not necessarily only – a sacrifice of their aspirations, careers and earning potential in order to focus on family).
No, thank you. Just talk is no longer going to cut it. Roses and compliments are great, but it’s time people, leaders, organizations put their money, capital, resources on track instead.
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