Social equality has become a key issue in today’s societies and gender equality is even more significant. Every day, I wonder whether this principle can be put into practice or not. After staying away for two years from Facebook I activated my account yesterday and the first video I encountered was an advertisement of Aerial that was shared widely. After that I strolled down and saw another video by a cloth brand called Biba. These two videos struck my mind.

The videos reminded me of a discussion I had in my class about involving men in female rights movements. The advertisements are relevant to countries like India and Nepal as they show the reality of today’s women struggling to balance traditional feminine role with more modern roles to fit in the man’s world.

It is normal to see in most of houses where husband and wife come back from the job but then husband watches TV while the wife prepares for dinner and does other household chores. If the family has in-laws and children then the domestic role of women grows even more. The balance between the family and office requires a great effort.

A woman is not allowed to bring her professional stress to her family but a man is allowed to do so. I have listened to many women and feel that 24 hours aren’t enough for a woman to live her own life. We want women to work outside, compete with the men, and lead our society.  Today’s women are doing all this work. But where is the problem? The problem is we never asked men to help women, cook food, and do laundry. We want women to be like men but never ask men to be like women. Men are doing only what they are required to do but women are expected to excel in both roles. Here lies the problem.  Men of this generation are doing whatever they are taught. They have never seen their father washing dishes, cleaning house and doing laundry.

I would like to question all fathers who have daughters: Do you want to give this life to your daughter? I too have a daughter, and may be this is why I am appealing to all fathers to teach their sons and daughters about helping each other. Trends are changing, and society is being transformed where parents desire for a girl child but how many of you treat your daughter as equal to your son? This is the question to all fathers who enjoy when the daughter-in-law is working hard both in office and house while the son is enjoying watching TV.