WHo decides thE eXpiry dAte Of a wOman'S dReaM? ~ '36 Vayadiniley'

Last week I had finally added count to the mass who have watched and liked Tamil movie '36 Vayadhinile'.

My brain, devoured by the philosophy of the movie, found an interesting thought.

As questioned in the movie - 'Who decides the expiry date of a woman's dream?'

There are many answers we have come across - the male chauvinists, patriarchal society and sometimes the women themselves. But, don't you think, underlying all this is OUR own SOCIAL CONSTRUCT and our own methods of children upbringing?

Right from the day parents gain knowledge of the gender of their baby, their's and the society's expectations as well get aligned. By expectations I mean - for a girl, she is expected to emotionally and morally support and strive for the family, flex to the husband's job opportunities, expected to call her in-laws amma and appa, expected to know cooking and help in the kitchen even when visiting some place as a guest!  And also, the women are expected to seek the husband's approval for any decision to be made. In addition, women with high aspirations in their career are admired yet mocked and for conventional working women, any imbalance or instability sighted in their life as a couple finally ends with the reason - 'the wife is as well working, and there is no one to take care of the household chores'.

While these expectations haunt women, for the men, they are expected to work, ridiculed if chooses to be a homemaker, expected to financially support AND PROVIDE COMFORT to the family, not expected to know or help with cooking, given leeway if actions portray slight negligence and irresponsibility, expected to expect his wife to serve him, not expected to call his in-laws amma and appa, expected to have job security and any want for shift in job or field of profession is considered a huge threat to the family's stability, unless of course the opportunity is from abroad.

With our upbringings bolstered with such expectations and 'lack of expectations', sometimes we are left with no time to think and question the system. Of course such a system was created by our 'learned ancestors' decades ago to ensure stability not just within the community but also within each small pockets called family. But such a system, having been followed without question, has failed to evolve. Has failed to encourage diversity as a character of society and thus, mutation. Has failed to encourage each individual to think for themselves as well, has failed to motivate to have individual goals which could act as drivers for living a vibrant life, has failed to let each of us have an outlook to a way of life that allows us to have both individual goals and family goals, and strive towards both.

Living in such a narrow minded, rigid societal system,  lets try answering the question again:
WHo decides thE eXpiry dAte Of a wOman'S dReaM?