Shahid Kapoor Got Asked If He Does Household Chores In This Lockdown. Why Do They Think It’s Optional For Men?
Ever since the lockdown started, my mom has been cooking lunch and dinner while I make evening snacks and tea. We’ve divided other tasks among ourselves too. However, if I am being honest, since I am working as well, I don’t do a thorough job with these domestic duties during weekdays. Meanwhile, my dad has been vegging out on the couch for two months now. He has taken on the more “manly” tasks of handling the groceries and supplies at home. Of course, that means my house is filled with moong dal and instant noodles because he doesn’t think about ordering some good snacks.
It’s almost like he waits for me to be walking around so he can tell me things to do. “Alexa, get me a bowl of farsan”, “Alexa, switch on the AC,” I can hear him say that in my head, except he thinks the women of the house are AI bots. While I would love to have the pleasure of calling him out, there’s only so much I can school him as his daughter. And I know it won’t change anything; the man can’t be moved.
Shahid Kapoor, on the other hand, has a department when it comes to domestic duties! When he indulged in an Ask Me Anything session on Instagram, several fans took the opportunity to get to know him more personally. One of his followers asked him if he is doing any household chores and Shahid replied saying washing utensils is his department and asked what the fan has been doing. Shahid wrote, “Mera department bartan ka hai. Tumhara?”
Do you see how it’s a question of whether a husband would be doing domestic duties or not? However, a woman won’t be asked if she is doing it, it is just assumed that she is because she has to. Fishes swim, birds fly, women cook that’s just how it is, right?
Dear society, yes we like things to be clean and have food on our table but it doesn’t mean it’s our job alone. That should be required of human beings and not just women.
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I am not going to go gaga over Shahid Kapoor washing utensils because that’s normal. He is not “helping” his wife; it is as much as his duty as it is hers. However, I am sure he knows that. I am sure he is a hands-on partner and father. But just out of curiosity, if he is doing bartan, who is doing the rest of the chores? I mean, that’s a pretty small department – I hope there’s more.
Anyhoo, I do feel that several men from our generation have now opened up their minds to not being sexist. At least those who have been raised by strong women, if not modern fathers and who have been exposed to cultures that hold gender equality as its virtue.
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ALSO READ: My Dad Forgets My Age And Is Too Awkward To Have A Heart-To-Heart. Why Are Indian Fathers So Absent Emotionally?
So here I am hoping that I won’t have to school my husband about the concept of sharing domestic duties, and how it’s not only a woman’s job. I will make sure to marry someone who doesn’t have his brain cells tangled in these stupid, misogynistic notions. And if it turns out and it is highly likely, that his parents never made him do any chores, I will make sure in the absence of domestic help he doesn’t binge-watch Netflix expecting room service. Yup, that’s who I am and unfortunately, I can’t fix my dad but I can hope to raise my daughter in a non-sexist zone.
