What image comes to mind when one says, traditional girl?
Probably someone wearing a suit and salwar, hair pulled back in a braid and visiting the temple every free second. Someone timid and who can practically do every housework without losing breath.
When one says traditional girl, they automatically believe that she is not modern in thinking.
But I ask why exactly is that?
Why do we straight away assume that, a girl who is traditional in mindset and ways would not be modern, and that a girl who has a more modern lifestyle would not be traditional?
Let me try and explain how the youth and people around us are so extremely influenced by social media and the entertainment industry on defining what both mean, that they are blind to the complicated layers that come with being a traditional or modern girl.
Read More: How (Not) To Be an Indian Woman: Battling The Paradoxes Of Patriarchy Since Forever
Being Traditional Does Not Mean One Is Backward In Thinking:
One thing to keep in mind that just because a girl is traditional and enjoys the things that come with that lifestyle does not automatically make her backward in thinking.
It does not mean she is weak and it definitely does not mean that she is repressed.
A girl who is traditional by nature and personality can be as bit of modern in various areas of her life as a girl who has a more modern approach to life.
This is something that is majorly wrong with society as present and actually laughably hypocritical in itself seeing as women have been fighting all this while to make a free choice, however now the tables have turned. And those who show a more traditional mindset are made a fun of for being ‘regressive’ in thinking.
But just because a girl likes to visit the temple, is religious, likes to wear conservative clothing does not mean that she will automatically be a poor little girl who doesn’t know any better.
Just like that ‘modern’ girl is choosing her lifestyle, so is the traditional girl too making her own independent choice and is not in need of saving from anyone.
A Modern Girl Is Not All About Being An Alcoholic And Drug Addict:
Similarly, there is a growing impression that a modern girl is all about heavy drinking and intaking drugs without abandon.
Which is also not true and actually the blame can be laid solely on our entertainment industry which has propagated this image with gleeful excitement.
The problem here lies in how stereotyped both these lifestyles are and how much influence we take from them.
Based on this one little fact that we know of the person, we immediately form this image in our head which not even be true.
And this is in fact just creating a big identity crisis for girls and the people around them as they themselves do not know of how to act.
So the next time you see a girl who is traditional or modern, do not assume based on popular stereotypes.
Image Credits: Google Images
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