Even as men and women both work towards closing the gender gap at work, unfortunately at home, gender roles still exist.
But the good news is that more and more people are becoming increasingly egalitarian. Humans of Bombay featured a story of a woman whose parents raised her with values that no role is better suited to a particular gender.
She describes how she resented the fact that her mother was a working woman while her friends’ mother stayed at home. But slowly, she realised how her parents used to balance their work and responsibilities at home to give her the best upbringing. She said:
While growing up, both my parents were working full time. I didn’t understand it — In fact, I used to hate that my mother was working, because most of my friend’s mothers weren’t. Mom and Dad were the perfect team. Mom made our tiffin in the morning and when we got back from school, Dad was the one who fed us lunch before quickly heading back to work.
Then around 6, he would pick mom up from work and they would both help us with our homework and cook dinner together. There were no gender stereotypes — most of the time, Dad attended our PTA meetings, but that didn’t mean mom loved us any less…we understood that early on.
Her parents not only taught her gender equality but put these teachings into practice in their home. She said:
So I learnt my most valuable lessons watching my parents — that if a woman works full time, she doesn’t become any less homely and if a man takes to the kitchen, he doesn’t lack ambition. The greatest lessons on equality are taught at home… and that’s something we need to remember while setting an example.
Read the full post here:
If only everyone could replicate this at their homes, the world would be so much better!