Feminism has been abuzz the world over in three waves, and more prominently in the ´underdeveloped´ countries like Nepal since the beginning of its third wave in the early nineties, when Nepal also saw a grassroots movement post democracy but soon fizzled with the advent of NGO money in the movement. However, the movement has been largely imported and little effort has been made to contextualize what a Nepali Feminism would or should look like.
Consequently, the movement alongside globalization, similar to how it unfolded in the global North a few decades ago, has brought to Nepal a surge in the number of working women in the private and public sectors, an increase in the number of girls going to school and a general deviation from society´s view of woman as the ´other´. Women in Nepal are now more than ever taking on traditionally male dominated careers in the urban setting.
However, what has remained either ignored or what many have perhaps been too careful in suggesting is that for these women, living quite comfortably above the poverty line, who have had access to education from the get-go, and who are out attempting to rival their male counterparts in whichever field they have chosen, have consciously or otherwise made a choice.
The choice is simply to work outside of the domestic sphere. Consider it a self-fulfilling prophecy, an ego thing or the expectation of society for individuals to live up to certain demands, but men in Nepal still bear the burden of being the providers.
Undoubtedly, history proves that women have systematically been declared the ´other´, and as for the feminist movements that have commenced since, they are well on their way to ridding women of this unjust label. But it cannot be ignored that while women have had thrust upon them the label of being the ´other´, men have been simultaneously been hoarded into being the proclaimed ´provider,´ or bread winner of the family. This is no easy burden to carry either.
It´s easy, as with most injustice, to look at any picture only at face-value. However, stepping outside of realms of subjectivity, and observing the trend of feminism in the world leads one to wonder, if women have been subordinated and oppressed for centuries, what has that meant for the role of men? Surely hand in hand with the suppression of women, not allowing them basic voting rights, education or a place in the labor market meant that it was men themselves that had to provide for the women who they themselves (perhaps not explicitly) had kept subjugated.
Feminists of the modern day often refer to the ´triple shift theory´ as an explanation for how the division of labor in the modern world is unjust, and maybe more so than that of pre-modern times. Here, the argument being that women are to carry out household and childcare duties, have to face the burden of ´emotional work´ and also carry out a day-to-day labor induced job of an office. However, in the context of an urban Nepal, while the first two are arguably true, the third ´shift´, is more of a self induced burden. This particular ´shift´ still falls within the male domain, in terms of societal expectation and the expectations of the male as well. Women have the choice to marry, settle down and confine themselves with the first two aspects of the theory, leaving the final for their men to take care of.
It´s as though women have the upper hand in this one sense. The choice serves as a fall back option of sorts. If all else fails, if one hates their career, if it´s just too much stress, we may simply cross number three off the list. And with the expanse of globalization, household chores and childcare for the urban middle class and above, are no longer the cause of physical and mental strain in the way that they used to be, leaving these women in a much better situation than they may have been just a decade ago.
This is not to say that women have the choice to have it easy, while men slave away for their family. It is simply to assess what centuries of patriarchy has meant for the male, and the difficulties he may be facing. Without any doubt, feminism is a necessity along with most ´ism´s´ in the world, in order to bring about any social change. But for us urban Nepali women, it´s not quite as bad as it´s often projected to be. All this ´penis envy´ misogynist nonsense aside, today´s ´modern´ man is also in quite the predicament.
Related story
5 home remedies to stop hair fall
-1200x560-1774441847.webp)
