It is amazing how so many women want to raise strong daughters. They want to raise their daughters to be strong and independent. They want them to be warriors rather than victims. They want them to be heroes of their story. They want to see their daughters bashing every social regressive norm that tells them they are any less than a man. They want their daughters to stand for themselves even when no one does.
While it does give us hope that women of tomorrow would be much stronger than us, we wonder how we could raise strong women without showing them how strong women act. Without being strong ourselves, how could we raise them to be strong?
How could we expect our daughters to fight for themselves, while as their mothers we don’t!
While we keep making endless sacrifices for others, how could we expect our daughters to treat themselves as their priority?
How could we expect our daughters to lead their life on their own terms, when we don’t!
While we silently suffer in an abusive marriage, how could we expect them to stand for themselves?
While we worry so much about Log kya kahengey, how could we expect them to break the norms?
While we keep hiding our opinions and views, how could we expect them to raise theirs?
Dear Moms, if you want your daughter to be a strong woman, then you have to lead by example. You can’t wait for others to show your daughters how strong women act.
Be your daughter’s hero by walking the talk. Don’t just expect your daughter to be strong and independent. Rather, show her how a strong woman acts; how a strong woman fight for her dreams, how a strong woman raise her voice against the abuse; how a strong woman never give up on herself; how a strong woman picks herself up after every wall; how a strong woman doesn’t wait for a knight in shining armor to save her; how she becomes her own savior!
As strong moms, we need to show our daughters how no heartbreak is too tough or how no challenge is too difficult! Before we raise strong daughters, we have to become strong mothers ourselves. We have to show our daughters that our gender doesn’t define our dreams or aspirations!
It is heart-breaking how our society conditions its women to be always dependent on men. Be it financial, physical, or emotional. It tends to raise women to serve others; to be always there for others. It forces women to attach their self-worth and confidence to how much they can sacrifice for their husbands, parents, and kids. And, whenever, a woman gathers her courage to stand for herself, to fight for her dreams, society leaves no chance to shame her or insult her!
While living in such a society, we can’t wait for our daughters to wait for their role models to appear in their life. We can’t wait for others to be an example for our daughters how a strong woman should be. Being a role model doesn’t mean we have to do big things; we just have to do little things that show our daughter – what equality means; what living life on your own terms means; what being your own hero means!