I Didn't Understand The Need For Feminism Until My Mom Said This To Me: It Changed Everything
Lately, I have been reading quite a lot of articles regarding why exactly we need feminism.
First of all, there is a lot of misconception regarding the word 'feminism'. I have seen many people say that they don't support feminism and that they believe in equality.
I believe feminism and equality are like two sides of the same coin.
Now to the question, why do we need feminism? I am not going to answer that. Instead I am going to tell you a small story about my family. My family consists of my parents, my older brother and me. My family has never actually differentiated between the two of us.They have provided us education in reputed institutions and truth be told, I have never been treated any differently for being a girl.
I am a pretty lazy girl but I still help maa in certain household chores. Like when she is not feeling well, I am asked to serve dinner and clean the room (both my as well as my brother's).
One day, I jokingly asked maa, "Why do you always tell me to do the household chores? Why don't you tell dada to do the same?" I still cannot figure out what was wrong with that question but the accusing look in her eyes made me feel guilty.
She said only one thing,"because you are a girl and he is a boy!"
That day, the actual meaning of being a girl in this society dawned upon me. I have heard a lot of stories about how difficult it is to be a girl in the Indian society but never actually understood the meaning of it. No, I am not mistreated in anyway but somewhere I felt that all this education, career is meaningless.
Because I am a girl and no matter how successful I become in life, I will always be expected to serve dinner, do the dishes, cook food and when time comes, give birth to a baby and carry the family forward. That is what my mother did. That is what my grandmother did. That is what my great grandmother did. That is what women do.