Being in India has been a pretty eye opening experience. In a lot of ways, India is still quite traditional in terms of gender roles. Though the society has come a long way with gender equality, the attitude of men as superior is still very prevalent. As a pretty big feminist, this has been challenging. For the first time in my life, I’ve felt really vulnerable and somewhat limited because of my gender. The girls in my study abroad group (5 other very opinionated and rather kick-a girls) have definitely had our share of man-hating moments here, but more than that we’ve gained a huge respect for Indian women. We’ve seen women in saris building houses, washing clothes in rivers with babies on their backs, and carrying huge loads on their heads. I think each of these things just really represents how amazing they are. It’s like saying “I can do anything a man can do, and I can do it in a sari.” I’ve met countless incredible women here, so hard working and caring too.
I’ve especially seen this in my research. I interview at a local college dorm talking to girls about their views on education and their motivations for going to school. Just talking to them, getting to know them, and finding out their stories has been so cool. They’re such strong women. So many of them have had to face a lot of challenges to fulfill their dreams of going to college. The girls have such a strong desire to help their families, do something for society, and just be independent. Seeing that in such a male dominated society has really been incredible. I’m so happy my research gave me the opportunity to really see this, now writing a 30 page paper on it this summer is going to be less fun. ha wish me luck.
Building houses in saris. I can barely walk in mine.
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