Fight Gender Inequality

Sharing the load...

I have been brought up like a typical male child. I know, this is 21st century and I hate to admit it; but its the truth. I am the youngest in the house, I have an overtly loving elder sister and my parents are overtly pampering and protective. Therefore I have never been scolded, forget helping my mother with the household chores! My father on the other hand I would say is very progressive. I have always seen him helping my mom in the house...whether be it in the kitchen, garden or anywhere. He always said that work is not gender specific; if my mom can go out to work then why can't my Dad help with the housework? Unfortunately these valuable attributes did not get instilled in me.

My parents never forced anything on me because they thought once I would start staying in hostel, I would change. They were wrong. I was sixteen and a half when I joined King George Medical College. And to my sheer luck, the amenities there are unimaginable. The cooks there used to love me as I used to head the mess. Naturally, all the food was cooked according to my taste and I never had the need to cook myself. Its said that hostelers are good cooks because its the need of the hour. It was not so in my case. Similarly room cleaning and laundry were taken care of by the housekeeping staff. Therefore I remained aloof from all kinds of housework. I never felt the need to learn or do anything of this kind!

When I got married, my wife got the shock of her life! She is the only child of her parents and was very young when we got married. But she knew taking care of the household. She is a very finicky person by nature, she needs everything to be at the proper place and that's where our disagreements started. I am a very messy and laid back person. I don't even mind drinking water or any drink from the bottle itself. I mean who has the time to pour it in a glass? Forget cooking,laundry or cleaning, I don't even keep my dirty clothes in the laundry basket. My wife has to hunt for my unclean clothes when she is doing the laundry and gets very upset. I feel bad that I am unable to help her. She goes to work, manages our daughter and household and blogs too. If I would have given her a helping hand, then it would have been such a big boon for her. But what can I do? I have reached that stage of life where I can't inculcate new habits. So I plan to teach my kids gender equality.

If I ever have a son, I would ask him to help his mom in the kitchen. I would teach him to make his own bed and take care of his things. he should be able to wash his undergarments and put the rest of the things in the basket. Eventually I would teach him to take care of the entire household. So that his wife would not complain the way mine does!

Its high time we start working towards gender equality. If women can go to work, why can't we do the laundry and #ShareTheLoad?

“I am taking part in the #ShareTheLoad Challenge with Ariel and Akshara at BlogAdda.”