For years, women have been labelled as a weaker partner in a man-woman relationship as well as male dominant world. The word weak generalises the idea of the overall persona of a human. Thus, when women were considered weak what it actually meant was physically, psychologically, emotionally, mentally etc. Women were called weak. If I look back in times when there were less resources, women during those times have still given birth, managed household chores, brought up the children, cooked meals, and yet tried to look beautiful. Men on the other hand had to go out and work, come home tired and eat food, play with kids for a while and go to bed. Men and women had their own set of tasks to perform on a daily basis. However, women doing everything inside the house in an allotted area were being considered weaker compared to men because they didn’t have to go out in the world.
Was that easy? The women used to live inside the four walls of a house, with limited resources, with children and no time for herself. There were no TVs, no internet, no cellphones and no easy access to the things she wanted. Sometimes they were not even getting proper education. For some little girls going to school was a dream next to impossible. Unlike their brothers those little girls had to stay home to help their mothers or learn how to cook and clean. They had to prepare themselves for marriage instead of living their dreams. From childhood, they have been taught that they don’t belong to their parents’ house because someday they will be married to some guy and have to go to his house.
Those young girls never even got heritage from their fathers. They were never considered while making crucial decisions for the family. For so many years women have been ignored and neglected. They couldn’t speak for themselves or take stand for any injustice or give their opinions or decide anything on their own. From wearing clothes to eating food and from going out to coming back, everything was decided for them either by their fathers or brothers or the men of the house. Women were not allowed to live by their own terms and freewill. If a woman used to do anything against the rules of the society or does anything in a man dominant area then she had to face a lot of criticism and in the worst case boycott.
Many women in history have made their marks by breaking those norms. They have cared less for what others think and lead their lives by doing what feels right to them. They showed courage to stand their grounds, fought for their rights, and paved ways for other women. When they were fighting for themselves they less knew that one day their struggles and sacrifices will make a great change in people’s lives. The coming generation will take inspiration from their deeds. Those women didn’t bow down to the so-called patriarchy because they knew their worth. They knew what they deserved and couldn’t settle for less than that.
Those women didn’t have what we have today and that is the access to the world on our fingertips. If they could make such a huge difference in society with their actions and words then imagine what we can do! We are growing powerful, independent and mature. There are so many countries in the world that have women as their presidents or prime ministers. There is no field where women are not working. In every area of the work we will see a woman or a group of women and many times all women lead projects. Women are astronauts, pilots, train drivers, bus drivers, taxi drivers, bureaucrats, politicians, into defence forces, mechanics, bikers, formula one drivers, and whatnot. In every male-dominant area there is a female and not only is she there but she is doing great. She is making her presence felt.
It’s not limited to the work but on a personal level too women have become more strong. We know what we deserve and thus choosing a life partner also has levelled up. Women choose what they want and if things don’t turn out the way they have planned they are not afraid to walk away. Earlier women used to suffer their whole lives to make their marriage work. Sometimes due to fear of society or for the sake of their children they just stayed in a marriage. They were not financially strong enough to bear the load of bringing up the children all by themselves. They had to be dependent on their husbands for a lot of reasons and were afraid to leave even though they were abused, cheated by their partners, tortured by their in-laws or left without no reason.
Women have started taking control of their lives. We are deciding based on the permanent facts and genuine actions rather than a temporary show of emotions. In a relationship, both should be considered equals because both are human beings. If husband and wife both are working then both should be responsible for running a house and share the equal load of work. They both should participate in household activities no matter how big or small the work is. If that’s not done then there’s a problem. If women are going outside and working 10-12 hours a day then she shouldn’t be the only one managing the house, cooking, cleaning or taking care of children. Women nowadays know this and expect their partner to be aware of this. Thus, when they don’t get what they expect from their partners they walk away.
Women are now self-aware, self-reliable, self-sufficient and self-loving. We don’t feel ashamed when we do something going out of our way if we know that’s right for us. We are not bound to explain ourselves to society for the decisions they don’t approve of but necessary for our own peace and growth. We will not stop ourselves from getting the right treatment and the same respect that only men used to get for years. There are still some people out there who don’t think that gender descrimination is a problem or being biased towards a gender should be a cause of concern however there is a hope because there are people who do not encourage such inequality. Women or men both need support, care and encouragement from time-to-time for any reason. We are feminist and we do believe that the world is full of hope. We need to lift eachother up, support and be part of each other’s journey whenever we can.
If we want to see the change then we have to be part of the change. It is not easy but it is worth taking the risk. It is said that the good things take time and I can’t agree more because time changes everything. Being a feminist myself I know how much I had to give up to live upto my standards. I have lost people whom I called my friends, I have lost some opportunities because it didn’t feel right at that time, I have made mistakes and corrected them whenever I could, I have gone through some darkest time of my life and yet survived, I have taken risks and failed and when I look back they were worth it. Women are capable of doing whatever they want if they come out from their comfort zones and accept the fact that they are never less.