What struck your mind when you read this word? A wife or mother standing in the kitchen, wiping the beads of sweat off her forehead as she stirs a ladle in the hot boiling pot of chicken broth? That’s it?
Women have always been confined to the definition of beings who are entitled to get married before a certain age, bring humans into this world, raise them, maintain the house, and that’s all. The real question is, is this really what women are for or are capable of? Have we ever asked ourselves this question that how much talent or potential is wasted when a talented girl is married off at an early age into an uncooperative household and is deprived of access to opportunities that could lead her to somewhere, somewhere except the kitchen and laundry?
We need to ask ourselves this question several times unless it sinks deep inside the pits of our mind and makes some sense, are women really some childbearing and rearing machines? Are women only for the kitchen and laundry? Why have we assigned or made these roles specifically for women? Why are all the household chores tied to women only?
This is the reason that Pakistan is still lagging behind.
We need to understand that women are much more than cooks and dishwashers. They are capable of so much more than stirring a ladle or chopping the veggies. She is a human being who possess many talents and qualities and she has the full-fledged right to make use of her talent and potential. She deserves to be exposed to opportunities that will enable her to earn some name beside a cook or dishwasher.
TAHREEM ASGHAR
PESHAWAR
