If you are a professional in an emerging industry, like gaming, data science, cloud computing, digital marketing etc., that has promising career opportunities, this is your chance to be featured in #CareerKiPaathshaala. Fill up this form today!
I'm a WAHM. Confused? I'm that perennially misunderstood and overworked mom who tries to make a living - a work at home mom. Got it?
I’m a WAHM. Confused? I’m that perennially misunderstood and overworked mom who tries to make a living – a work at home mom. Got it?
We, women, do get tired a lot. More than physically, we get tired emotionally. We get tired because we have to multitask. It is not easy to be a woman, especially a Working at Home Mom (WAHM).
Modern women have evolved to become multitaskers. Our previous generation was only expected to be good at household chores. They were expected to be domestic goddesses; we just need to wear an invisible cape and do everything.
The other day I went to my son’s school for the parent-teacher meeting, where I met another mom. When I asked her ‘what do you do?’ her prompt reply with a tinge of guilt and shame in her voice was ‘I don’t do anything, I am a homemaker.’
This is not something new that we have heard. We are living in an age when a woman feels guilty if she is a homemaker. Women also feel guilty when they go to an office to work. And, women also feel guilty if we are working from home. We are always guilty and never ‘completely’ proud of anything.
If we go out and work we are judged as the one who is neglecting her family and kids. If we decide to give up our career, we are made to feel ashamed of only cleaning and cooking, and wasting our education. The worst kind is the WAHM who is the typical example of “dhobi ka kutta, na ghar ka na ghat ka”(the washerman’s dog who belongs neither at home nor on the riverbank).
We belong nowhere. The family thinks we neglect them and are always busy on our laptops, and the boss thinks we are always whiling our time away sleeping, wearing a sexy nightdress like Madhuri Dixit in Dil to pagal hai.
WAHM are expected to do the grocery, pick up the kid from school, prepare food, and go to the bank while simultaneously talking over the phone with the client, and typing proposal documents while running the washing machine. We are expected to attend PTA meetings and meet friends for brunch and movie, and also go and make a presentation in front of the client.
From the perpetual sign of guilt on her face.
We always fear we are not good mothers because when other mothers do their child’s project we juggle various time zones to attend conference calls. We are not good wives because when other wives accompany their husbands in classy outfits we are busy writing e-mails with hair tied in a messy bun. And if some of us also have hobbies like blogging then we are the doomed.
Why is there nobody in our home or workplace who understands how tough it is to multitask? Why do we perennially suffer from the guilt of not being able to do enough? I honestly feel our next generation of women will remember us as the multitasking yet perpetually guilty generation.
Published here earlier.
Image source: shutterstock
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!
Shows like Indian Matchmaking only further the argument that women must adhere to social norms without being allowed to follow their hearts.
When Netflix announced that Indian Matchmaking (2020-present) would be renewed for a second season, many of us hoped for the makers of the show to take all the criticism they faced seriously. That is definitely not the case because the show still continues to celebrate regressive patriarchal values.
Here are a few of the gendered notions that the show propagates.
A mediocre man can give himself a 9.5/10 and call himself ‘the world’s most eligible bachelor’, but an independent and successful woman must be happy with receiving just 60-70% of what she feels she deserves.
At one point, she confesses to her mother that the beatings are no longer physical, they have started affecting her mentally as well, and she wants to break free of this cycle of abuse.
Trigger Warning: This deals with domestic violence and may be triggering for survivors.
I recently watched Darlings on Netflix. It’s a quirky, dark satire featuring the dynamite duo of Alia Bhatt and Shefali Shah. The movie depicts domestic violence and the psychology of abuse.
Even though the subject matter is dark, there are light moments and humour, which make it immensely watchable. It stands out for its powerhouse performances and unique storyline.