Oh She!? She doesn’t work. She is a HOUSEWIFE!
In our society, roles and responsibilities have been predefined as per the gender of an individual. Females are the homemakers, while males are the breadwinners. Homemakers in most cases are taken for granted, the work done by them is ignored to the extent that it becomes their duty to do all household chores, take care of the children, cook for the family (extended family in majority cases) and in return not even expect any praise or respect. Because it’s what they are supposed to do. These preconceived notions have burdened the women to the point that they feel exhausted and drained most of the time.
Even as per our religion Islam, it’s not the women’s responsibility to do all the household work. Let alone to take care for the in-laws and extended family. Whether fortunately or unfortunately women in Asian sub-continent have been treated on the standards created by societal norms and traditions which have always subjugated women and deprived them of their rights. Housewives are not only looked down upon as an economic burden but are also stereotyped as old fashioned by the fraction of women who have now stepped outside the home and started working.
Their concern about each family member’s food preference, health and day to day activities become the first priority sidelining her own activities, desires, luxury time and relaxing hour. Majority of the housewives play an important role in holding relationships together during crucial times, they work as a bridge and bond among members, bearing all the emotional strain just to keep the family together. The ample amount of work done by them is led down upon by families and society alike just because they do not earn wages hence not contributing to the economy. They should be credited for their efforts with praise, pampering, help and love so that they continue to bring out the best in families. Being a housewife is not an easy job, its far difficult than it seems, some respect would go a long way.
A few brands in their recent advertisement also tried to create awareness by showing how one days’ work if not done leads to chaos and utter madness in the household. Despite that majority men very easily taunt their wives by saying, which is actually a global phenomenon, because whether Eastern or Western societies if your work isn’t contributing to the GDP then its not considered as “WORK”:
“Karti kya ho pura din tum, except sitting at home.”
Such men should be made to do all the work a woman does in a day and then only they would realize that how much of an effort and hard-work is required just to keep the days going. Though a lot have changed in recent times, but still men and women need to go a long way in terms of changing their attitude and behavior towards one another. Kudos to women for bearing all this and yet keeping up at it because they love their families and cannot let them down.
