Has it ever occurred to you how women more often than not have had to downplay their achievements and salary packages just in order to be able to make their husbands or partners feel secure? Probably way more often than we realize. This is the exact point slam poet Diksha Bijlani echoes in her performance.
In this video uploaded by Kommune India, Bijlani talks of how women are slammed for being over-achievers and often asked to keep their success under wraps to keep the male members’ ‘respect’ intact. The most sapiosexual of men, after all do take it to heart and to ego when defeated at an argument or pointed out for factual inconsistencies.
Bijlani talks about how her self confessed feminist boyfriend got very miffed upon being pointed out that civil servants earn more than lawyers. Soon after, she was not allowed to pay for dinner. Relatable much?
Now, before we have men screaming at us about how they too face societal pressures to succeed and be bread-earners, we understand but that’s not what this is about. Feminist or not, women put in as much effort into succeeding as men do and would not like to lose on a chance to be praised for it. It’s not gender equality the second women are ‘allowed’ to work in offices, the genders will be equal the day you do not take your female boss any less seriously than the male boss. It will also get better when the male boss looks at all his employees equally and understands that the women are also around for a career and not to just have fun till they get hitched.
So, next time when the woman you love defeats you at an argument about political ideologies, try your best to not be a spoil sport about it!
