Of Gender Stereotypes And Beyond...

We talk of shattering gender stereotypes but how much of it seems to be implemented yet. When was the last time a woman felt safe? When was the last time she was either not subjected to prying or preying? It hurts to be part of a society where the sole place a woman remains safe is the mother's womb; even then there are high chances of being subjected to female foeticide!
This evening during one of those random playing sessions, Anshika, my 3.5 aged daughter instructed me to feign a mock situation wherein I was supposed to act as a "damsel in distress" and she would come to my rescue not as how the society would expect her to enact, for instance, the female protagonists like "Barbie" "Frozen Elsa" "Mermaid Princess"  but as "Spider-Man" , and there too, she refrains from accepting to be adorned in the "pink" costume (the one worn by "Spider-woman") but wants the conventional "blue and red". I feel good when she chooses a "blue" kinder joy chocolate over the "pink", I feel proud when she understands colors beyond the ones that define gender prototypes, I rejoice in the fact that she aspires to be the protector and not the one who always needs to be protected.
I revel in the fact that as parents we have been able to put through a valid point that needs to be discussed in many households, where till date women stand to be suppressed upon, their wishes are meant to be admonished, their words are shunned and their will crushed, trampled upon. It's very much the same society that you live in, I live in, the future generations would live in! Let us make it worth living, for it is in our hands.
May many more such young children, predominantly girl children, aspire to dream what, today dominates Anshika's leisure hours! 

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