We Love Our Boys And We ‘Raise’ Our Girls; But Then These Women Surprise Us

When a woman steps out of the box society tries to trap her in, society is at a loss as to how to react. More power to these women!

When a woman steps out of the box society tries to trap her in, society is at a loss as to how to react. More power to these women!

“We love our boys and we raise our girls.”

This observation was made by Michelle Obama at the first-ever Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago. An observation that is better reflected in Indian society.

The fundamental element of difference in the way men and women are raised, that society tends to overlook, is that restrictions are not only placed on what we do, but who we are.

Since childhood, we are shoved into a box as narrow as their mentality and told to grow to fit it, never to cross the borders of its confinement. Our path is set for us, with rules and traits like power-ups to collect along the way to adulthood. And we carry into this adulthood these internalized way of being, a road you cannot venture from, the route you take to be a woman worthy of approval.

The belief that ‘women’ and ‘responsibility’ go hand-in-hand directly or indirectly governs almost every aspect of a woman’s life. And society teaches us the wrong kind.

What they don’t teach you is that there are plenty of parts to take.

Womanhood is not a binary concept. It doesn’t exist in the monochromatic way they choose to see it. It is a tornado of strength and knowledge and determination. It is a palate for every woman’s way of being.

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When a woman steps out of the box society tries to trap her in, she humanizes herself. And then society is forced to perceive her as a person rather than hips and a set of duties, which society then struggles to comprehend. They are fearful of what women can do when they find their own path. They fear what they can do when they realise their own strength and freedom. When they realise that they don’t have as much responsibility to everyone else as they do to themselves.

When they find themselves, they find all the power that comes with it.

Editor’s note: This post had been shortlisted for the August 2019 Muse of the Month contest, even though it wasn’t one of the five winners.

Image source: a still from the film Masaan

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About the Author

Aarzu Swaminathan

Professional dreamer, poet and artist. I teach children to read and write and they teach me everything else. read more...

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