Feminism shattered many of these bars. But has it truly set women free, or has it created a society where expectations persist, but under the guise of choice? The Wire: The Wire News India, Latest News,News from India, Politics, External Affairs, Science, Economics, Gender and Culture
Women today are told they are “free to work”; however, they must excel professionally while also juggling domestic responsibilities, a burden still disproportionately theirs.
They are “free to be ambitious”, yet must constantly prove their worth in structures never built for them. Women who negotiate salaries are labelled “demanding”, while men doing the same are seen as “assertive”. Even self-expression comes with conditions – they may speak their minds, but only if they are not “too much” or “too little”.
These double standards extend not only into a woman’s professional life, but her personal life as well. When a woman takes care of her children, it is expected – when a man does the same, he is praised for ‘helping’. A mother’s care is duty; a father’s involvement is celebrated. When a woman cooks, it is routine; a man does, it becomes art. The same tasks, the same labour, yet one is obligation and the other is talent.
This is not freedom. It is a subtler, more deceptive form of confinement. Women enforce the expectations upon themselves, acknowledging and silently agreeing with them.
by Janshee Patel
01/07/2025