Superheroes

Captain America,Thor,Iron man and the current flavor of the season...Loki. These are superheroes that we have been introduced to through comics and movies.

But I feel that real superheroes are here amongst us. Reams have been written about them already. Yet on a practical level I do not see much of a change in mindset. Yes..I am talking of Women.The women in our lives. The most underrated role is that of the woman. 

Women have always found ways to express and assert themselves even when the going is really tough. I want to address here something that always disturbed me. 

Why is it that a woman has to make a choice between home and career? Or why is the onus entirely on her to balance home life and work life?

 

I feel that in most marriages the impression is since the girl is getting married she has to make all the major compromises and sacrifices.

Hello! The guy is getting married as well! 

I am sure men's lives change after marriage but nothing radically changes in their lives. They had someone to support them thoroughly when they went to work. Just like pre marriage. Plus the almost celebrity like status at your in laws. I am not even going to mention dowry.

Women face bigger changes. Its 360 degrees for a woman. There is a new set of inlaws who may or may not like her. Mostly they hate her and think of her as an outsider. She has the onus of not just mingling well with them but make them their own inspite of their deep rooted animosity towards her.I guess the fear that she is there to grab the son of the family preys too much on their minds. Hello..they are married to each other and naturally belong to each other!

Then comes the issue of a career. Now if the woman wants to have one then that is her problem. She needs to come up with a support system for herself. Household duties belong to her alone. She has to find a way to balance home and family. And no woman is a superwoman ..she is made to become one. Juggling and multitasking all the time. If we just let her be and fully give her the support system of a conducive family and a healthy society..Will it be so hard for women to make things work? 

Most of the women I know get serious health issues in the process and even then there is not much empathy for them.

I once heard a colleague actually saying that his wife cooks him delicious food,keeps his home and goes to work. They were expecting a child soon too. And this guy is a Software Engineer in an MNC. I shudder to think of the woman because the husband was very proud and smug of his wife. He thought it was all a cakewalk for her.

I am not claiming that all men are like that.I have been surrounded by men who are sensitive and very gentle too. My father is one such man. But they are few and far between. These men have a feminine side that is very alive. I feel feminism is the quality of being creative, kindness and gentleness.I have met and interacted with such men who are gentlemen. I was stuck in a situation at an international airport and two Indian gentlemen from completely different strata of society bailed me out. 

Men are not enemies. I just wish that more of them evoke their feminine side.

 Even Shiv is a corpse without Shakti.