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This working mother who is unashamedly ambitious recently came across shaming for it from the teachers of the school she was seeking admission from, for her 5 year old.
Since I have become a mother 5 years ago, not only do I have a bigger heart full of love, but am also exposed to a cringe-worthy world of people who love to hate working mothers.
Yes, I am a mother and I am also pursuing a regular job; nothing unusual as I see most people around me doing the same. While I agree I have been shamed for doing this ‘anti-Nirupa Roy’ thing in the past by certain relatives, this is the first time fellow working women have indulged in shaming me over a 30 minute long ‘interview’ to get my son admitted to a supposed ‘high-profile’ school in Ahmedabad.
I know it sounds unbelievable, given we have such big numbers of working mothers now than we had in the last generation. While we have been talking about increasing the number of women in workplace, promoting gender equality in sports, etc. there is a big bad world out there which is probably still living under the rock, or refuses to accept the times we are living in.
Sadly, this working-mother-shaming was done to me by none other than the teachers who will supposedly teach my son and other kids to be a responsible human being/citizen.
It got me thinking, who were they lying to? The girls they were teaching in their school, asking them to get good grades, pursue higher studies, and then sit at home when they grow up with their only purpose in life to attend their child’s orientation programmes? Mind you, they asked for the mark sheets of both the parents, so they could judge us on the basis of our education levels, and then beat us up we say that we are working in respectable jobs after getting those marks.
Oh, the irony! Unfortunately, since this was about my son’s admission to school, I couldn’t really be the motor-mouth I usually am. People who know me would vouch for this.
Ok, so there are three kinds of working mothers you will see at the workplace:
I am both of these, and I’m sure most of my friends would fall in this category. Sorry, but not sorry! No shame in being ambitious, and no one in this world who doesn’t appreciate money. We work to satisfy our professional desires and to earn money, this is a basic fact for a man and woman alike. Rearing a child again is the responsibility of a man and woman alike.
This is my initial brush with the school community and I delve into it on this not-so-sweet note while hoping it wanes away as the years pass. Welcome to school life, my child!
A version of this was first published here.
Image source: shutterstock
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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