I was born and brought up in a small village in India. In India as well as in many parts of the world there are many things women go through.
People always have something to say about us. There is a gender-biased at some places. At some women are not given the respect they deserve. At some places people just judge us because of our looks and the list is ongoing.
As today is women’s day I want to talk about us and the women’s stereotypes people think we have but they are incomplete.
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1. Women’s don’t know how to drive
I have listened to this phrase so many times. People judge women’s driving. In India if there is some chaos on roads or if something wrong happens and they get to know that the driver is the woman then definitely there will be a taunt for it.
It’s like people directly judge us and simply say that women don’t know driving. They even say we can’t drive at night or drive long distances.
The truth is:
According to New York Times, women are safer drivers than men and this leads to less fatal accidents. Women are better drivers than men according to UAE surveys as they abide by the traffic rules and don’t use phones while driving.
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2. Women’s do a lot of shopping and they love pink color the most
Yes, we do a lot of shopping and we do love the pink color but what’s wrong with it.
We buy things we need. Women’s fashion changes every minute and women’s marketing is the most in every country and that leads to 70–80% consumer spending according to Forbes. By the statistics, it is said women spend $31.8 trillion in worldwide spending.
The truth is:
Women don’t spend on themselves. If you take a peep look and see you will understand that women buy things on behalf of her husband, kids, parents, colleagues, friends, buy household things, buy healthcare products, and the list is endless.
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3. Women’s can’t control their emotions
We have lots of emotions and if we suppress them then we will burst into a much severe sense. The problem is if men express anger then it is valid but when women express it is unreasonable. Look I am not pointing out to all men but such things happen in some part of the world.
If women speak up for their rights. People nag them down. In The Moment of Lift, Melinda Gates tell us that if more power is given to women then society benefits, and strong communities are built. Even Paytm invited 30 men and women and conduct an experiment on International women’s day and the result are striking. Look at this Instagram video to know about gender inequality in terms of finances and rights.
The truth is:
People say us to calm down but they are telling us to lose our essence. Life is filled with emotions and without expressing our emotions we will lose ourselves and it’s harmful to our body.
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4. Women’s should be in the kitchen and should take care of household needs
In India, the majority of women are housewives, especially in towns and villages. It’s the duty for women to do every household thing.
I have seen women’s waking up early in the morning and work for their families. They make breakfast, lunch, dinner, do cleaning, do laundry, make food, help kids with their homework, and if they are working women then they have to do all the household work as well.
The truth is:
We are comfortable with doing all these things. There isn’t any harm but the only thing we need is appreciation. Little kind things and a little helping hand when needed go a long way. I know many men around the world help women. I have seen my Dad helping my Mom with many things and this makes me happy.
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5. Women’s should be slim and beautiful
I have seen people judging women for their looks. Yes, it is true. If you see a black woman or fat girl then people just give their opinion without realizing how the person would feel.
I have seen my own friends who have cried and shared their views about people’s judgments. It feels bad but it’s difficult to change people’s opinions about beauty and appearances.
The truth is:
Yes, women get hurt when people give bad comments about their looks as they start to think and work on it but later on they realize it’s not worth giving stress to themselves because of people’s opinion.
They all accept themselves as who they are and from now on if anyone tells something bad about your appearance smile at them and let them go. You don’t need to clarify everyone just be kinder and someone will love you and appreciate you the way you are.
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6. Women’s should get married early
In India, if a young girl is still working on her dreams and is not married until 20–25 age. People start questioning about the girl values and they tell parents to marry their daughter as early as they can otherwise they won’t get the right partner accordingly to their thinking.
The truth is:
We have the right to study as much further as we want and we can choose with whom and at what age we want to get married. Societal pressure should stop and people’s thinking needs to get changed.
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7. Women chose low wages career
People think that women go for careers like teachers and don’t go for STEM courses. Teaching is a great example — as most of the elementary teachers are women. Society doesn’t realize how important that job is like the child’s whole career depends on it but still, women get paid less in that field.
According to Harvard Business Review, when men’s and women’s works in the same field— Performance Review are inherently biased, instead of reviewing individual evaluation some companies review based on gender and race.
The truth is:
According to business insider, there are 34 occupations out of 550 where women earn more than men but some norms and traditions still give women vague feedback based on gender stereotypes and it needs to change.
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Final Conclusion
I describe things that are practiced in some parts of the world and it is the truth. There are many other stereotypes which are:
- Women cant go for a solo trip.
- Women can’t go out at night.
- Women don’t understand property disputes.
- Women’s dresses need to be blamed in cases of rape.
- Women talk a lot.
- Women can’t make quick decisions.
The list is endless but many things are changing and many people understand us but still, there is room for improvement. This post is not to make anyone feel inferior. We all need to change. Even women’s thinking in some aspects needs to change as well as men’s.
When both genders work together and women are given equal rights in terms of everything then society will progress much faster.
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This post was previously published on Medium.
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