It was during the early months of 2019. I lived in Gurgaon. On a weekend I decided to head out to Select City Walk, South Delhi. I was all by myself strolling, and exploring what was there in the mall. Exploring because it was my first visit to the hyped place.
Nothing interested me inside. However, when I came out. I came across an old famous Bahrisons Bookstore, Saket. The joy of going to the bookstore. Picking the book. Flipping the pages is incomparable to purchasing a book online. It never gets old. For me, the bookstore is also the place where I have had interesting conversations with strangers.
While I read the preface and book cover of many books. Yours truly purchased two books Sapiens (Special collector's edition) and Brave, Not Perfect by Reshma Saujani.
Who is Reshma Saujani?
Reshma Saujani is the founder and CEO of the Girls Who Code initiative.
What is the core idea of the book?
Girls are taught perfection. Boys are taught and expected to be gutsy. Girls are taught to beware of things before even trying them. When they dress, that time they are told what to wear, how to wear. The expectation is for them to look beautiful.
The same goes for behavior. Not to raise your voice. Behave decently. All these things are taught at home. Due to this girls become fragile. Girls are taught to take care of the family, help in the household chores, etc. While in some homes it took a pandemic for men to show up and help in household chores.
In a patriarchal society like ours. The careers and interests of women are not prioritized in every household. Women are often looked at from the angle that they are support providers. Remember that old saying - "Behind every successful man, there is a woman."
Book shares examples regarding what can you do so that you learn to practice bravery and not chase perfection. Like other skills, bravery is a skill that can be learned.
Food for thought?
While it might seem to you that we are in the 21st Century and what is written might not be true. To find an answer observe how many women are there in your team? how many women do you find in the boardroom meetings? How many women are part of the engineering teams? How many women founders exist? How many women are in leadership roles? How many women had to leave their jobs during the pandemic? Are women in minority? Do they have the network that'll help them to march ahead in their career?
A long time back I remember reading a newspaper headline: "The number of women getting school and college education has increased than before in India. But, the number of women present in the workforce has still not improved."
Dear Women
Brave, Not Perfect.
Resource
If you are interested in getting a copy of the book. Here you go:
Be Brave, Not Perfect