Breaking Social Norms
Yamini Sharma is a coder and a blogger. She wants to bring a change in society via her blogs.
Breaking Social Norms
“India is a developing country.” We all have heard this line millions of times but today through my blog, I want to ask all of us a question: Are we really developing? Does development only stand for structural development or does the development of the society also play a major role? Today via this blog we are going to try and find answers to such questions.
The development I want to discuss is the development of the mindset of society. Today, about 60 percent of people believe that it’s the duty of a woman to perform the household chores or raising a child but this is not what I want to discuss as many blogs have already been written on this topic. Rather, I want to talk about those men who really want to bring a change to this scenario and who truly want to support their partners by sharing every responsibility, whether it is by doing the household chores or raising a child. Many men are doing it all successfully and yet, there are many others who are holding themselves back because of the comments that society might pass on them if a woman is working out of home and a man is taking care of the household chores; then according to the social norms, the man is not masculine enough.
When it comes to social restrictions we always think that they are only for women but that’s not true. This judgemental society has also set restrictions on the behavior of men. According to society, a man cannot express his emotions and be in a vulnerable state; he is not allowed to cry and should always seem to be strong; he should not be supposed to cook; he should not be helping his partner in doing the household chores, and, if he does any of these things, then he is apparently not masculine enough.
There are men who are trying to break these social norms and bring a positive change in society but instead of supporting and motivating them, their own family and friends begin ridiculing them of their behavior by giving various inappropriate tags to them. All these things demotivate them and they begin to think negatively.
If we really want our country to be a developed one, then it is very important for us to break these social norms. We should tell our fathers, brothers, friends, and husbands that we are there for them. They too are allowed to be emotional, they too can cry and share their problems. “Change begins at home” so if we want to bring about a change, we will have to first start with our homes.
The views expressed are that of the writer.