They told her because they can,

She heard because she had eardrums,

She did not listen because she didn’t need to.

 

They told Batman to save Gotham City,

But they wanted him to replace the Cape with a Sari.

 

They told Iron man to fight the invaders from outer space,

But they wanted him to steer away from being an over qualified genius billionaire, as that would force others to develop an inferiority complex, which invariably would lead him to die single.

 

They told Kalpana Chawla to be the first Indian woman in space,

But they asked her not to don a masculine space suit and to slip into something more lady like.

 

They told P.V. Sindhu to bring home Gold during the Olympics,

But they told her not to work out or visit the Gym so as to keep her petite and not muscular.

 

They told Indra Nooyi to be the CEO of PepsiCo,

But they also told her to single handedly make breakfast, pack lunch boxes, drop the Kids to school, be home when they come back, check on their homework, take them to classes, make dinner and put them to bed with a bedtime story. Her Husband had work too after all.

 

They told Her to become the Head Chef in a Seven Star hotel,

But they also asked Her to stay out of the Kitchen during Her period, because She would contaminate the environment, the Hotel could endure the losses.

 

They told Her to win Her college beauty pageant,

But they refused to let her even wear a crop top; since the 5 inches of stomach seen in Sari clad women was more pleasing to the eye than the 1 inch of stomach the crop top revealed.

 

They told Her to become a dexterous Surgeon,

But they didn’t want Her to leave the house after 7pm or take calls beyond 10pm (Emergencies can go to hell, Lives will save themselves).

 

They told Her that being dusky was beautiful in its own way,

But they handed her a tube of Fair and Lovely and scheduled a series of appointments with a Dermatologist after registering her on a matrimony site.

 

They told Her to be a partner in a successful Law firm,

But they also told her that her Rights throughout her Lifetime would actually be governed by that XX chromosome she possessed and not her prestigious Law Degree.

 

And just as casually,

They asked for an educated woman with a professional degree to marry their blue eyed boy,

But they also wanted her to be a stay at home housewife, running the house and helping the already present and efficient help.

 

They told her because they can,

She heard because she had eardrums,

She did not listen because she didn’t need to.

 

For all those who are about to fill the comment section with the word feminism or who are cringing currently thinking, “Aaah, Why such radical sexist statements in this millennium?” I am sure deep inside or not so deep inside you all know exactly when you were either at the giving or receiving end of these redundant statements.

While you chew on that thought, Rebecca West magically read my mind as I pondered on what was a fitting end to this post.

“I have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat.”