International Women’s Day is here – a day when women are celebrated, and a day when they get discounts from so many shopping websites and restaurants! But do you know what’s the biggest gift that women can give themselves today? A day off. Women work all day, round the clock, 24 /7, at home and at work. So why not take just one day off? But can the Indian woman actually do that? We spoke to a few women and got these responses:
Neha, an Assistant Professor based in Lucknow, says – an Indian woman is conditioned to believe that sacrifice is her ultimate duty.
As with most matters, even the concept of taking a day off is a matter of privilege. For a middle class Indian woman, with little or no domestic help, it becomes impossible to excuse herself from her familial responsibilities, even if it is for a day.
For a middle-class Indian mother, it becomes even more difficult to take the day off. So while it is great to ask women to take a day off from work, just how difficult is it for a mother to withdraw from her duties that have been accorded to her by the society.
I spoke to Nishtha Gautam, a mother, columnist and gender equality activist. Here’s what she had to say.
This year, women’s rights activists in the US have decided to mark March 8 to be a ‘Day Without a Woman’. It’s a radical idea that asks women to step away from work, and from their traditional duties to make the world notice how insanely important their work is. I am not sure if that idea will work in India, where selflessness is taught to be the greatest virtue.
But Nishtha Gautam begs to differ.
On that note, Happy Women’s Day, everyone!
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