This
is the story of Ashwini Rajpoot , student of Delhi University. She is an
English hons. student who in her words ‘is still trying to figure out how to
turn her degree into a lucrative and only moderately boring career’. Her
favourite pastime is reading books and is a happy go lucky girl.
‘I credit my success and achievements to my
parents. They have held my hand and supported me in every phase of my life.
They have always been very proud of being blessed with two daughters and make
every attempt to help us acknowledge our dreams and to fight and strive for
them.
Gender Discrimination and me
When I was young I played with my cousin
brothers and they were not concerned about what gender I belonged to. Playing
cricket and climbing trees with them was accepted, even encouraged. But once we
started growing up they started looking at things differently. They started
imposing upon me activities that were gender specific and expected me to
display qualities that a ‘girl’ is supposed to posses. I could no longer climb
the tree and pluck the guava myself. They thought they were taking care of me
but in reality they were abstaining me from doing all that I liked. Our
relatives made things worse by ‘pitying’ my mother for not bearing a male
child.
Why
the schism, I would ask.
What I have grown to realise is that even
though the same kind of things are taught to both the genders, the manner in
which they are taught is distinct. Girls are brought up to like purses, dresses
and encouraged to see beauty as the paramount attribute. On the other hand,
boys are forced to enjoy outdoor activities and strive for physical strength
and intellect. When the society has conveniently created this rift between the
two, they create stereotypes and gender specific boundaries to force people
into satisfying them. So, when jokes are cracked about girls being obsessed
with fashion and boys not being emotional, it is not about their inherent
traits but the acquired from of being, a form imposed upon them by the society.
According to me all the parents in India should be like these parents who supported their kid irrespective of her gender and who feel proud about her success in life. Society should change its perception on teaching things to the younger generations keeping in mind that goals and dreams should not be allowed to be
gender specific.
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