Why is it taken for granted women should do household chores ?
Women are often taken for granted when we are considering household chores. Men hardly lend a hand in any of the domestic tasks and it becomes the sole responsibility of the lady of the house to work all day, and that too without a vacation or remuneration. And it’s not the age of the housewives anymore, even the urban wife who goes to the office for a 9 – 9 office job is made to come back home and work laboriously at the kitchen, and here it’s the tradition talking.
Men and chores
Men have seen their fathers relax on the easy chair, watching a match, or probably sipping tea that his wife made, combined with crammed up news from the newspaper, while their mothers slog in the kitchen, cooking day and night, and catering to the laundry and décor of the house. This is a fair division of labour because in those days women never ventured out of their homes, so it was natural if the men worked outside, and the women indoors.
The environment
What is alarming is that these men who have grown in such an environment are probably gender sensitive and they respect women also, but they do not look upon women in another light. They still have the concept about women working in kitchens and it hurts their male egos to help their ladies in household chores. These women work all day, raise their kids, look after their ward’s education, and come back home to a truck load of work. The sarcasm lies that men pride themselves to own such wives, and women pride themselves to be multitaskers, but the situation is graver – this is a blatant example of the inequality that reigns in households.
The perception of women
Women are thought to be care givers, comfort lenders and they are the source of inspiration for the men, which is understandable, but men need to understand that they are not slaves of the civilization who are entitled to lifelong misery of housework and domestic chores. After all, after a very long tiring day of excruciating hard work, a woman would love to relax to a cup of coffee or maybe music or books. She too would love to sit on an easy chair and recline and probably muse a fancy imaginary situation. She too would love to go for a vacation with her female friends. Burdening her with domestic chores reduces her to the standards of a domestic help and naturally overrides her freedom.
Our words to men
To all the men out there, go help your ladies, pamper them. Help them with the dishes, help them scrub and wash, clean their clothes just as they do for you. Chop up the vegetables and help her cook, just as she does for your child. After all, you don’t want to set up a wrong example for your children, do you? Neither do you want to see your daughter slogging later in your life. Be the change you want to see in the society !
