“Girls Will Always Be A Burden.” Really? Acknowledge The Role Of Women In Our Society

What is the role of women in our society? Women pull their weight and more! Let’s love, respect and support her as an equal.

On my way back home, while I was looking for a bus to board, I overheard a man nearing his 40s say to his male friend, “Girls will always be a burden.” I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but I was shocked at what I heard. I turned around and checked out his name tag. He works with a company which was recently in the newspaper for being one of the top 5 companies in India for hiring the highest number of female employees. The figures are huge, but with this mindset is there any scope for us to have a bright future in these organisations?

If a senior executive has this thinking, then ladies, where are we to go? Sadly, our careers are in jeopardy. Are they simply hiring women to make them feel worthless and to force them into giving up? Indra Nooyi, the chairperson and CEO of PepsiCo, once said that she had to put in double effort as compared to her male counterpart to get the same promotion and recognition that he would have got.

Deepika Padukone recently opened up about her depression in an interview with Barkha Dutt and was featured in the Vogue empowered video where she represented the voice of women, trying to tell them that they have the right to make their choices. This video has raised many eyebrows and questions as to why did she say this or why did she say that. What people don’t care about is that even today girls are held responsible for rape in our society. They are burnt to death for dowry. They are not even given the basic rights that every citizen of the country deserves. I am a fortunate woman with a college degree, a job and parents who never considered me any less than a son, but my dear countrymen – many girls are not this fortunate. Most of them are conditioned to believe that they are born to get married and go away. Often no or little money is spent on their nourishment and education.

Women are not trying to overpower men

When we talk in extreme terms, it is because our condition is extreme. If tomorrow, I miss an opportunity because I am a girl, I can’t feel more helpless about anything else. Women are no less than men when it comes to skills, talent, dedication, motivation and work ethics. They out-perform men in the initial stage of their career, that is, before marriage and motherhood hits them. If they do lag behind, then that is because she is bringing up children and what do we do to her while she is doing that?

We question her ability to perform tasks at work when she re-joins work, we take away her salary hike and we judge her for being absent from work and on a maternity leave. Why is it so hard to be supportive and hold her hand through this challenging phase of her life? Some men are extremely supportive and help their wives scale great heights, but, at present, they are a minority.

I want to walk shoulder to shoulder with my male counterparts. I want to earn as much as they earn at any point of time in my life. I want to get a promotion I deserve and a hike I have worked hard for. Many talented female friends of mine and I yearn for this. We can give up on having kids because we are that focused, but won’t the human race go extinct if every woman did that?

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We love to care for our loved ones. It would be great if we could get some support in return when we need it the most. We do carry endless dreams in our eyes. Please don’t call us a burden because we are much more than that, and deep down, you know that too.

From,

India’s daughter who dares to dream big

This post was first published here.

Image of a young woman at work via Shutterstock

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