I had the displeasure of growing up with people who strongly believed that all girls had to behave a certain way. Surprisingly, though I was a child, their worldviews failed to change me. Instead, I found myself wrestling with comments like “She can’t even cook!” or “Watch it! Girls shouldn’t get so angry.”

I fought those opinions and was labeled ‘arrogant’, ‘rude’, ‘wild’, and many other unmentionables. But I also remember an angry rhetorical question “Are you a girl??”. This makes me wonder, what is a girl really? Is a girl a piece of clay that you can fit into a mold of your choice? Is a girl a human creature of lesser significance than a boy? Or is a girl a little thing that just needs to be quiet and cute?

You know, for all the terms and conditions we place on a girl child as we raise her, we might as well put a leash around her and walk her. ‘You are not allowed to do this! You can’t be like this!’ and the big one, ‘Behave yourself!’. Can we give them a break? Can we let our daughters explore life and express themselves without constantly holding them back? Can we let them believe that nothing is wrong with them for just being who they are? Can we ask society around us to shut up when our girls don’t fit into the ‘girl box’?

Gender equality starts when a child is born. Gender equality starts at home. Lets treat our sons and daughters alike and build a better society for tomorrow.

#GenderEquality #FearlessProject #WomenOfWorthIndia

[su_box title=”About the author” style=”soft” box_color=”#f3f3f3″ title_color=”#000000″ radius=”5″]Sunjula Daniel is Operations Manager at WOW and a mother who is passionate about changing the world. [/su_box]