What we are giving up in return
International women’s day has been historically the day when people specially in our countries talk about how women are discreminated in their everyday lives, how they are being the victims of violence and all. but I have been thinking about women like us who never fall in that categories. we are independent young women, who control their own lives, i.e, have good careers and earn good money. we learnt at a very early stage of our lives that we were no less than the men.our parents invested the same amount of money they invested for their sons.but on this special day i have been just reflecting on what we are giving up in return
if you are an independent girl in a relationship then never expect to get flowers and chocolates and cute cards from your boyfreind. because your partners will always deprive you of these saying, ‘i thought, you are not like other girls’ and get away with not dropping you home, not opening the doors for you, not rescuing you when you are having a row may be with the traffic police in dhaka.they will keep you waiting for years not popping the ‘will you marry me?’ question. worst part is you can’t pursue the guy for doing any of these as that will make you look like a next door girl (those other girls , he always mentions about)which you always have to try not to be.
if you are a career oriented single girl and couldn’t manage to get married yet, chances are very high you wouldn’t find one or have time to find one in the near future. there will be tremendous social pressure on you to get married and they will make all your achievemets look like really insignificant unless you can hook up with a suitable man for you. but you will find no one in your family or among your freinds who will take the responsibility to look one up for you. they will all say , ‘ohh , you are just too qualified to find a husband’ in different ways and you will surely know they are actually not praising you in that way. being too qualified is never good for girls!
may be if you are a girl who actually managed to get married with the person you wanted and now have a perfect family.then you will actually have to refuse some very good career opportunities as they involve lot of travelling , late nights as these seriously affect your family life. you may have to take a break at work to have a kid and when you would go back to work again you would see in that minimum of one year time somebody else has actually taken your place.at that time you should run in 100/mph speed to catch up but you wouldn’t have the time and energy.you would have to go home early , you would be tired at work for not sleeping enough at night and you would think about catching up in few years when your kid would be a bit grown. but you would actually see yourself stuck at work in the same position years after years as you go back home as soon as possible after work for looking after the kids, entertaining guests, attending dawats, doing household chores. by then, you would know you are no more a woman with the superb career.you would get frustrated about that but not be able to show that off as you were the one who took the decision to get married, have kids and refusing all the good opportunities at work. ‘This is the problem with you independent women, you want everything’…..
yes, when i think about it i really cannot find the right balance. are women supposed to be liberated?is that making them happy?is it making the people around them any happier?is it doing any good for the society?i know, this is actually the crisis of a very privilaged lucky few but can we deny this crisis?
i must not forget to mention here, i seriously do believe there are women out there who could find that right balance.but i also believe, they are just a few exceptions.
March 9th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
If you are an independent women then you shouldn’t expect blokes to open the door for you or buy you flowers. Thats gender streotyping. And why wait for him to propose? You should do it. Independent women means just that. Unless talk about independent women is just that, talk.
March 9th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
A women does not need to stereotype herself to preconcieved ideas about women’s lib or empowerment. The power to decide without social pressure or giving any credence to the perception that’ I must seem to be empowered and fit into such image for sake of image only’ is in fact the opposite of empowerment. Empowerment is part of feeling comfortable, confident and proud for being a woman, being feminine too and being on top of her profession and family, socially and economically. If a woman decides to take months or years off from work for pursuing motherhood she should not repent missing out in work as it should be a privilege to be a mother, a role nature destined only for a woman. It is only women who can multitask and excel in it too as a professional, wife, mother and a social mobiliser. True independence is enjoyed when a woman learns to bring balance in these roles in a male dominated world without much ado but firmly and permanently.
March 10th, 2008 at 5:42 am
Hi Rajkoomaree,
I literally laughed reading this post. You need some help to understand this issue:).
On a serious note, its so wonderful to have a life of being a mom (a wife) and a career woman. As long as you are passionate about all those you do you can do well in all of those. Right prioritization and Multi tasking is the key. It’s not that only women does this. Think about Asif S, have you ever imagined how he does all these so well?
To me, being independent means I can do the right thing without needing to get a “permission” for it. Independence doesnt mean one has to be alone.
Hope this helps:).
Sharmin
March 10th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
What nonsense. The Feminist movement campaigns for women’s right to equal treatment in the workplace and at home, for labor equality, for wage protection, for an end to sexism and misogyny.
The Feminist movement has nothing to do with the myriad agdoom-bagdoom stuff you are blaming it for.
Here’s a tip, if your partner won’t get you flowers, dump his/her ass.
March 10th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Are you speaking from experience as non-recipient of the flowers or the recipient of the dump?
March 10th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
I don’t want to be harsh on you Rajkoomaree but your post makes me wonder if you know anything about being an independent woman at all.
The important thing we must remember here is that in many parts of the world today women have a choice. If a woman chooses to be a homemaker, we have no right to belittle her. In the same vein, if a woman chooses to pursue her career after marriage and motherhood, we should not judge her. It is wrong of you to assume a woman cannot do both and be content or that giving up one aspect will make her miserable.
In the end, it all comes down to doing what makes you happy and that involves making a choice, sticking to that choice and being content with it.
Personally I would rather be in a world where I have to juggle family and career (oh no! the horror!) than a world where I am deprived of basic human rights and equal access to education.
PS - If you want your boyfriend to bring you flowers, tell him! All women deserve flowers and chocolates, it has nothing to do with independence!
March 11th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Are people missing the main point of this post?
What is the right balance ? How to get that balance? Society is still afraid of the alpha women. The very successful ones are the loneliest ones as well. Society does not look kindly on successful independent single woman — still. On top of it, they would stereotype them with people who are unapproachable and who should be beyond the earthly feminine needs.
I think this is a transitional phase where women can’t completely let go of the past when they were shielded and at the same time society hasn’t quite figured out how to treat these “anomalies” and which bucket to put them under. RK’s thoughts seem to be an outcome of that.
March 11th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
What ‘anomalies’??? women of Bengal are breaking the mold for last hundred years, all we have to do is look at the right direction…
And if this article is about alpha women - I am sorry to say this, but I get more inspiration from the girl who sells vegetable at my street corner and who seem more confident then reading about someone who thinks she has everything in life yet ‘waiting for things’ to change for her…
Sorry Rajkumari, you really need to go back to the roots - find out about the women of Bengal who ‘thank god’ didn’t ponder ‘what they gave up in return’… start with Rokeya S. Hossain, and if you reside in BD, go visit Nurjahan Begum - who continues to make a social change with her work at the age of Eighty.
re flowers/chocolates/cute notes - is the norm still to wait for the guys to offer first?… ভালবাসব, তাও আবার নিয়ম মেনে? কি কলিকাল!!!
re marriage - here is some food for thought:
http://adhunika.org/blog/2008/01/28/to-marry-or-not-to-marry/
re balance in life - still trying to figure out, and second what sharmin (comment # 3) wrote,
and here is to ‘how Asif S. does all these so well’… he has the support of great women in his life - wife, daughter, mother, mil, sister, and some dedicated hard working women volunteers ;)… i know women rock:)
Good luck to you Rajkoomeree…don’t get discouraged with the comments, keep on writing.
thanks
Shahnaz
March 11th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Rajkoomaree pondered on some real issues, mostly faced by full-time working women. I guess ‘working women’ and ‘liberated women’ got mixed up in the main article and invoked some reactions. If a woman (man) chooses to be a stay-home mom (dad) and contributes to the family from that end, which does not necessarily make her or him less liberated. If I remember correctly, Clinton (not the candidate, ex-president) was proposing creation of part-time jobs, at least for one of the parents, so that finance and raising a family can be balanced.
March 11th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Good read:
‘Sea change’ seen in spouses’ financial roles
Survey shows few men bothered if wife brings home more bacon
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23413243/?GT1=43001
…When her husband opted against Valentine’s Day flowers because the prices were inflated for the holiday, she didn’t mind a bit.
“I don’t need you to bring me flowers to know that you love me,” she recalled telling her husband, a police lieutenant. “When you get up at 4 a.m. and put on a uniform … that’s how you’re telling me that you love me.”