Fairly tales, gender biased toys and feminine clothes, all these define and have defined the meaning of conventional beauty and femininity of a female. If a woman goes out of her way to fit into a man’s world, she is made an alien to the traditional definition of a female. People clap for girls who are athletes on the track and wrestlers on the ring but after that they put them into questions,
“She has a body language of a male,”
“She has manly attitude and body,”
“Who will marry her if she continue to look like this.”
What is left unnoticed and hidden is the fact that gender is a concept purely made by a man. Apart from physical differences, a woman or any other gender in the society can live freely the way they want. They can choose whether they want to read fairytales or detective fiction, study sports or fashion. Even most men, who choose to study performing arts are seen with negative eyes and thrown negative comments only because they adapt to the so called “womanly body language.”
It all starts with how we raise our children. When we teach our girls that they can only succeed if they do it like men or at least look and talk like them, this not only gives birth to prejudice but also creates a race of insecure men and women. We should let our boys and girls know that it is okay to look the way they want and choose a career or a path completely opposite to their gender. It is okay for a girl to wear skirts and yet be a leader at her workplace and similarly, It is okay for a boy to wear pants and keep beard and yet be passionate about Kathak or any other form of dance.
At the end of the day life is short and one should live it chasing their dreams and not running after someone else’s.
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