Let’s Stop Saying ‘Just A Housewife?’ This Choice Also Deserves Our Respect!

The father-in-law said, ‘you are just a housewife, you wont be able to handle bank work.’ He forgot she left a well-paying job to become a homemaker. It’s a choice that also deserves our respect.

Let’s talk about Priyanka. Priyanka went to a movie with her friends. She came out of the movie theatre without watching the climax of the film. She booked a cab immediately and rushed back home as her kids would be back from school. She prepared evening snacks for her kids and tutored them for the next day’s exams.

Priyanka was a bright student. She excelled in academics and has a postgraduate degree. However, she left her well-paying job to take care of her family. But the one thing she keeps hearing from people is ‘oh, you’re just a housewife?’

Priyanka made everything ready for her in-laws. She cleaned their bedroom and brought the necessary things for them.

The next day, as usual, her husband went to the office and she occupied herself with household chores. Her in-laws visited them. They were annoyed with her being a housewife for a long time. Priyanka’s mother-in-law was not well, so she accompanied them to the hospital.

Then, one day while she was serving them tea, she had a casual discussion with her father-in-law. There were some issues related to the bank.

But he told her, “You are just a housewife. You may not know how to speak with bank officials. So, you ask my son to speak to them.” Priyanka was shocked to hear such words from her father-in-law. He had conveniently forgotten about her education and work experience. 

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She she immediately replied, ‘I am a housewife by choice. I am not incapable of working.’ Her father-in-law didn’t care about her words.

Stop treating housewives as  uninformed members of society

Priyanka was highly disappointed by her father’s in-laws’ words. Even after post-graduation, her education held no value in her father-in-law’s eyes just because she was ‘just a housewife’.

Homemakers have to face constant criticism from people. However, many housewives are well-educated and have degrees. In addition, some of them have left well-paying jobs to take care of the family.

Many of them are well-informed, politically active, contributing members of our communities. They are well-aware of socio-economic trends and current topics. 

Let’s stop saying ‘just a housewife’. It’s a choice that deserves our respect.

Many people have the notion that housewives have too much time to waste. That they spend the days with friends and watching TV serials.

People measure a person’s success by the amount of money they earn or the position they hold. Nobody looks at the work housewives put in to run the family smoothly. It’s a never-ending list of chores from morning to night!

Being a housewife in the 21st century is a tough job. But, unfortunately, no amount is paid for the labour of love. Maybe we can stop saying ‘just a housewife?’ It’s a choice that deserves more than just a little respect. 

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