WOMEN, WORK, AND WORTH

A journey from home to workforce.

- Deepak Bhatia

Man is the wandering hunter and gatherer, while Woman is the stay-at-home caretaker, homemaker, child bearer and rearer, nutritionist, cleaner, cook, et al. Yet a man "works" i.e. goes out for/to work, but a woman's labours (of love?), multi-tasking contribution to the family unit or tribe are not classified under the same category.

An anomaly? Surely!

Unjust and wrong? Certainly!!

This has been the "system" ever since homo sapiens settled down in sheltered dwellings. Women going out to work were an exception. Fetching water from distant water bodies, collecting grass, leaves, twigs, and wood to keep the home fires burning and providing fodder to domesticated animals was undoubtedly necessary, but it still did not count as "work."