Recently, there was an advertsement which shows a female boss doing what all bosses do all the time i.e trying to meet impossible deadlines on an assignment. Now, if it had not been for that one little twist, the ad would not have generated so much interest. The twist was that one of the colleagues she is trying to convince to meet the impossible deadline for the assignment is none other than her husband. The female boss leaves office early to proceed to her kitchen to cook food and like any dutiful wife, calls her husband at what time he will be coming. The ad ends with the wife asking her husband to forget about his boss for a day to enjoy the good food she has cooked for him.
This ad has generated an uproar on social media since
a) It challenges the society defined gender specific roles where males have always had an upper hand in a relationship . The status quo is challenged as a female is shown to be the boss of her husband.
b) The female is stereotyped to her role in the kitchen even though she is putting the same amount of effort as her husband.
Coming back to the nuances of the contemporary relationship between a man and woman in an Indian society, we are yet to define the space for a modern woman. For long has our traditional society feared that the independent woman is a danger to its existence. The society , state and the man must realize the following:
=>A modern woman is not a) Follower of a man b) Is not limited to a kitchen c) In no way dependent on a family d)Ready to take risks which define her (even if they are against wishes of a family)
=>A modern man must a)put effort into his relationship with a woman as his equal b) accept that he doesn't not need to always lead a woman c)Think about the career growth of the woman.
Equality for women is misnomer term used in India. In practice, the equality is squashed when conflict of interest/clash arises. To sight some examples would be
a) Decisions which help a male gain career advantage over a woman(i.e moving from one geographical location to another)
b) Not seeking promotions/challenging roles so that she earns more than her husband
c) Quitting her career for family oriented roles/responsibilities
We are on the path of gender wars where each gender tries to eye the other suspiciously. The mutual co-existence that was shared is en route to chaos as the society refuses to come up with a framework to replace the gender bias in roles. Its challenging indeed. Given that our history is purely illustrative and tarnished with the absence of super heroines, the challenge remains to find the guiding lights within the chaos to provide an escape to the growing frustration in our modern women. I have got a flurry of thoughts on how to achieve that but as I watch the ad repeatedly, I wonder "Did the assignment get completed?".
