“When a teenage boy told my friend why he wouldn’t marry a working woman.”This was an article by a teenage girl that caught my eye. “I will clarify with my wife that she never works or has a job,” said the boy. The article mentions how the boy expects his would-be-wife to be a homemaker like his mother. He wants his wife to take up the responsibilities his mother has been handling for years. The girl is not able to connect with the thinking of the boy, as she is the daughter of single working mother. This had me thinking, the girl was looking from her friend’s paradigm, and her friend is a girl with modern views. What about the boy? We talk of feminism, woman’s rights and equality for men and women. However here we are talking in terms of the female only. What is the reason behind this mentality in the boy? Lets see his viewpoint; he seems to be concerned for his mother. For him it is relieving her from the burden of her household duties. He must have seen her working day in and day out for the family; the only option he saw was that his wife could give some relief to his mother in terms of the burden she has been handling for years. What’s wrong with that anyways? Well, if he has seen his mother working herself tired did he think of helping her? Did he think of helping his mother, or doing something that would reduce her burden? Maybe not, or maybe he did try but without success, his mother might have categorically refused saying, “Beta, you are boy, you don’t need to do all this!” She would not have wanted her male child to get into the mundane household chores. So here lies the problem! It is not that the boy is looking out for a homemaker wife, but why is he thinking that he should marry a non working girl. The problem is the over- protective, narrow-minded parents who do not let their children think different. Some moms who think her male child should not enter in the kitchen, not even for a glass of water! Are you wondering what will happen if a boy enters the kitchen? Well for all you know their family status may be at stake! You know “khandaan ki naak kat jayegi”. Yes this mentality still exists in some families and on the other hand we have Sanjeev kapoor and Vikas Khanna who have made a great name in creating new recipes. Coming back to the mentality, it is this type of thinking among parents that brings such attitude and thoughts among boys. Why only boys? Girls today also shy away from any household work. According to most teenagers today, it is the duty of their mother to cook and feed them, irrespective of their mother being a housewife or a workingwoman. Some teenagers would not like to be found dead working in the kitchen. If the mother is a homemaker then it is her duty and if she is a workingwoman then it is the duty of the cook or the maid. Teenagers are not supposed to be doing household work! What else they have a perfect reply… “It’s the teenage hormones Mom”. Ya...As though we were born in our 30’s or 40’s without experiencing adolescence! Well, its not that all teenagers are like this, some teenagers do help in the household work, however such cases are rare and the difference can be seen in the atmosphere at home. The atmosphere at home; that’s hard to believe right? We as parents need to change our attitude, first. Men should help their homemaker wife with her household work and sometimes discuss office matters and take the opinion or suggestions from their wife. If both parents are working they should see that the household work is equally distributed among all the family members. All members include children also. This will create a sense of responsibility and equality in the family that the children will imbibe. Thus a change in how we act will make the thoughts and decide the attitude of our children. I was inspired to write this after reading my daughters writing-
https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2017/03/bone-of-contention-unresolved-problem/
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
DeepthiThis page gives my reviews on books and articles read by me or any other issue that I pen down. Archives
November 2022
Categories |