Saturday 1 May 2021

Married to a slave?

 While slavery is officially outlawed, do we often fail to see the biggest form of slavery camouflaged all around us? Before I say anything further, I'd like to say that I don't wish to generalize the situation, hurt any sentiments or say that this happens with everyone. I am sure there are many exceptions to what I am about to say, and frankly, thank god for that! This is just an observation I made about many around me. 

Right from childhood we see our mothers and grandmothers and aunts and sisters cook, clean, look after the house, tend to the children and practically do everything else for their husbands. We see it so often around us that we hardly ever find anything wrong with it. In fact, most of us grow up thinking that it is the ideal way to be. Some of us even find it objectionable from a feminist perspective. Which it probably is.

But what I am concerned about today is whether marriage is just a way of turning women into glorified slaves with certain privileges. A situation where men are the masters and their wives do everything for them. In some cases, the sense of ownership is so strong that women are not only made to do everything at home but they are also physically abused, beaten up and ill-treated. Even women who are earning do everything else in the house while the men relax, drink, sleep or do about anything else but help out. Unfortunately what makes it worse is that many women grow up thinking that this is normal or even ideal, that it is what keeps a family together and that it is done out of love. 


How is this any different from slavery? Just because a slave loves the master or the other way around doesn't change the fact that they are still a slave right? Something to think about. 

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