The Delhi rape and the subsequent outrage against it has prompted many responses. Responses which looked at the issue as a problem of ‘the other’ and never ours. Some of those comments which came from the religious gurus and communal organizations have been so weird. So more than the candle-light vigils and placard-holding rallies (I’m not undermining the importance of collective responses though), what is the least thing we can do about the issues like this or the root cause of it all – gender equality? We speak about it at length, but what do we do about it, starting from our own families?
So here is a questionnaire/check list that we can use to see how we are scaling ourselves. We need not publish the answers for the public, but just think about it for ourselves. This is just an initial step, but still would be a good beginning.
– do you do your own laundry?
– do you iron your own clothes?
– do you serve your own food?
– do you do your part in cleaning the floors?
– do you do your part in other house-chores?
– do you do your part in parenting?
– do you do all of the above when you are living with the womenfolk in your family, and not just when you live alone?
– do you do all these by ‘favor’ or by a feeling of equal responsibility?