Importance of Raising Your Kids to be Feminists

I think of myself as a Feminist. I try to impose the same in the house. That there’s no difference between a guy and a girl except the biological one. I have fought hard against my parents to be one. I have always been a tomboy. I rebelled against my parents to be what I want to be, of course, I failed in a major way, but the point is that I fought. Unlike my writing partner Pooh who is the ‘good’ girl, I was the opposite, I was the bad influence. I failed in school, parents asked their kids to be away from me and I was every teacher’s nightmare. Miss Srilatha or Miss Rajini from St. Ann’s can attest to that. I never even did my homework. Of course, this has nothing to do with me being a feminist, but I think that is where it all started.

I started questioning everything when I was told I couldn’t visit the temple because of my periods. That is when I stopped listening to my parents. I wanted to join the Air Force once I was done with school, my dad’s exact words were, “SHUT UP”. If he stopped there I wouldn’t have minded. But he immediately followed it with a, “YOU ARE A GIRL”. So since then, I hated to be a girl. It made me more like a tomboy. Most of my friends were boys and occasionally a girl would be okay to be my friend. I don’t have many friends from my childhood. I was bullied a lot in school (a topic for another day), so I hated my entire school days. But only a few years earlier did I realize what gender equality is.

I thought moving to the US would solve my problem and that here everyone is forward thinking and are liberals. Boy, how wrong I was. It’s the same here. Women are supposed to be the kitchen and all that crap. I’m lucky to be married to a guy who sees eye to eye with me. Well, not entirely eye to eye but he does agree with me up to a certain level (cannot kick away that typical ‘men’ thoughts). So when I got pregnant I told him to raise my baby as a feminist and a humanist. If our baby wants to play with a Barbie doll, then he can. If our baby wants to play with a toy truck, then she can. When we discovered it was a boy, I told him, he can never ever judge our baby based on what he likes.

By raising our kids to be feminists, we are eliminating the need for gender-specific colors, gender-specific hairstyles, gender-specific toys, gender-specific clothes and gender-specific careers. If a boy wants to be a cook, then he can. If a girl wants to fight in the military then she can. If a boy wants to stay at home as a dad then he can. If a girl doesn’t want to have a baby then she shouldn’t. Forcing a person to do what they do not like, will ruin them. I’ve lived all my life (and probably everyone I grew up with) felt this way. I know a friend who wanted to be a lawyer, she wasn’t allowed to do it because she’s a girl. I know a friend who wanted to be a journalist, she wasn’t allowed to because she’s a girl. There are so many such cases. These women regret doing what was told by their parents. They wish that they just stood up for themselves and argued. But I would like to think, all happens for a reason. If we weren’t stopped, there wouldn’t be anyone to stand up and follow others in the revolution.

Hundreds of women and men are going to join hands to make life fair and equal for every gender.

Soon it will be okay for men to be sad.

Soon it will be okay for women to not be mothers.

Soon it will be okay for boys to grow their hair.

Soon it will be okay for girls to play video games.

Soon it will be okay for men to do chores at home.

Soon it will be okay for women to not do chores at home.

Soon a man will be paid as much a woman.

Soon more men will join the movement.

Soon, okay maybe not that soon, but one fine day everyone will be equal.

Let’s all join hands for gender equality for our kids and theirs.

 

Love,
Po