Gender Equality: One Step Forward - Two Steps Back

I have been extremely lucky to be surrounded by very strong women my entire life. My grandmother ran her own recycling workshop. My mother managed a full-time professional career while managing a demanding family.

My wife is a maths olympian, an IITian, a professional par excellence, decisive, and a go-getter. My 6-year-old daughter is all these aforementioned women all in one with a very powerful sense of humor and the ability to argue her way out of any situation.

I have, like most of us, been blessed with extraordinary professional female friends and colleagues. This is one of the biggest sources of pain. Pain stems from disappointment in the human condition where the better half of us have to fight for equality, respect, a moment to be heard, and basic human rights. Its everywhere. Direct, in your face, or, passive, subtle, and layered. I wish, for the sake of my daughter and a billion others, that we can create a world where…

🙏 Masculinity is not defined by a set of rigid old-school principles. Men and women divide tasks like equal partners with mutually defined parameters

🙏 Gender equality is inherently baked into our conscious and subconscious minds, our social and religious outlooks, and our day-to-day behaviors

🙏 There are no defined gender roles. We treat people as individuals

🙏 Freedoms are free based on common law and golden rule principles

🙏 Along with our daily prayers (or moments of reflection/meditation), we take time for daily moments of empathy, where we put ourselves in the shoes of people in our near circle and see how what we do or the society does make them feel. Change what is hurtful or demeaning

🙏 We learn to celebrate our differences and choices without judgment

We cannot keep going one step forward and two steps back. This is not utopian, but this is also not impossible. It just needs constant push without regression. With increasing equality, the world is already a much better place for all but nowhere near its true beautiful potential. Let's be better every single day.