The Homemaker: Misconception of the Stereotypes

The Homemaker: Misconception of the Stereotypes

Homemaker….a word so neglected, that it is often accompanied by the question “what do they do anyway?!”….well, my answer to that is quite simple, they make a standard wall and hook apartment, a “home”. They are always on a 24/7 work duty with a team that consists of a pair of hands and legs, and an extremely active brain that thinks and works at an unknowingly fast speed. Even though, another particular profession is said to be the oldest, I think homemaking provides better qualifications for the spot.

The traditional conception of the society regarding a homemaker was that of an ever-tired, grey haired lady in old faded clothes whose face seems to have worry and stress creases that closely resemble the cracks on the walls, while the tears rolling down her cheeks drop in sync with the water dripping down the ceiling……. Seems like a typical Indian movie??....in short it’s like, “ek abala naari, ghar ke kaamon mein uljhi hui bechari”.

In this period of the 21^st century, this traditional conception has somewhat changed but the society still perceives homemaking as an extremely underrated profession just because the professionals here don’t get paid. The covid-19 quarantine and lockdown period has actually made me see and realize that the case studies prepared by PhD candidates at prestigious universities regarding the work of “corporate multitasking by a professional” is somewhat naïve when compared to this exceptional feat of multitasking the homemakers do every day.

It also made me realize that this typical conception of the Indian society that a homemaker has to be a lady is severely misguided. I saw a lady, her husband and their kid taking charge of this duty at every required turn. Even though each of them had to face several issues, they didn’t take a U-Turn on their responsibilities. The most disgusting part about being a homemaker is that you are judged by your age and gender. If the homemaker is a lady she is said to be non-contributing to the society and suppressed under the feuds of the family, especially the “man”. And in most of the cases it is true and should be stopped but in these modern times we should also accept that the Indian society is taking charge and solving this problem. Now, if the homemaker is a man….ohhh boy that is some serious kick for the stereotypes in the society. Just the idea of a man managing the household instead of an office, is good enough to give these stereotypes a bad case of burns and that leads to the “sarcastic pun syndrome” and hell this one can lead to some nasty issues for these people.

Well, not everyone can understand the real job of a homemaker, even I don’t, at least not completely. But thanks to the quarantine, I have started to respect the profession and professionals for the skill and dedication they show.

Let’s see if we can cover the “job” of these exceptional species in some other post. Till then, so long peeps!!

-Anubhav Arora