India: Reinforcement and Thwarting of Gender Roles

"The World" article, documenting a young Indian girl Sarita, was very striking to me mainly because it exposed the two sides of Indian culture: a conservative one where she fuffills her duties in the household and a modern one where she is not only allowed but encouraged to study in school. The fact that she does chores like cooking, getting water, and cleaning the house reinforces her role as the female of the hosuehold. She even firmly agrees with the Indian tradition that a girl's home is not that of her parents. However, the fact that she is considered "the son" of the family and has the opportunity to focus on her studies thwarts these gender roles. The article continues to comment on gender roles by opening it up wider than just Sarita's situation. It concludes that Sarita's struggle between maintaining tradition and straying away from it is becoming more common in India recently. Even though lately gender roles are becoming more equal, the movement can cause much "stress and uncertainty" according to the article.