Anvita Agarwal, a member of the Wishes and Blessings volunteering wing Squad for Change shares her insights into dealing with and breaking stereotypes and gender norms.
I would like to begin by quoting something said by Shirley Chisholm. It goes like “The emotional, sexual and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, ‘It’s a girl.’”
Yes, that is true. My family includes my father, my mother, my elder sister, and me. We are just two sisters, no brother. And yes, that’s a problem. Not with my parents, not with us but it definitely is a big issue for this society. We have seen and heard that the first child being a daughter is okay and digestible because there’s still a possibility of having a second child as a boy but when even the second child turns out to be a girl it’s no more a celebration. It’s a matter of sympathy, isn’t it?
My parents never bothered about this. They are delighted to have their complete happy family. I never felt any sort of discrimination or even the slightest preference towards my elder sister. In fact, I have always been the dearest to them. But yes, the relatives and this society never fail to remind me that I am a girl, and it is a loss that we don’t have a brother. I have often heard my father saying that some random acquaintance asks him about his children and is so sympathetic to hear that he doesn’t have a son. But why is this so? Isn’t the word children enough for that happiness or smile or pride? Why is it necessary to have a son in the family for everything worthy?
Gender stereotypes or not being treated equally is another thing women have to deal with, but this is something so common with almost every alternate female in this world and they deal with it every day.
I haven’t done anything significant to overcome this challenge until now because I always had and will continue to have the love, care, concern, support, and understanding of my family which is most precious to me. But society is already and will have to naturally realize with each passing day how strong females are, how successful they are, what level of pride they bring to their families, how independent they are and how important they are to a family, to society and this world apart from just being a mother. This is only what I have decided to prove with my hard work and dedication.