She was about to sleep when the lights in her house suddenly went off. She peeped out of the window and saw that only her house was without power. Her mother took a candle and walked outside to check the fuse. The fuse was blown and she had to fix it. Kimi was amazed to see her mother fixing the fuse. She asked her, “Mumma, how did you learn this? This is a man’s job, aren’t you scared of doing such things!’’ Her mother said,smiling, “My dear, for one, your papa is always traveling for work. These are basic life skills and all of us should know these. It is a stereotype that fixing fuses is a man’s job. And by the way, I think I am much better than your father at fixing these things’’ Kimi asked immediately, “What is a stereotype?’’ Her mother explained, “Stereotype is like a general statement about a person or group of persons. Something that we relate with a person or a group of people without obtaining all information about them. It is like saying something without thinking about it. People usually think that stereotypes are true. But stereotypes are not facts or rules and can be changed. For example people say that boys and men don’t cry. But you know that your father cries often while watching emotional scenes in a movie. Does that mean he’s not a man?’’ Kimi hugged her mother and said, “You are right mumma. Men can also cry when they get emotional. Today I was laughing at Vivan because he was wearing a pink sweater. This is also a stereotype that boys don’t wear pink. Isn’t it?’’ “Yes Kimi, this is a stereotype. Good that you realized this. Let’s go to sleep, it’s getting late’’ her mother said.
[Contributed by ankit.dwivedi@clixindia.org on 12. Juli 2024 03:33:17]
She was about to sleep when the lights in her house suddenly went off. She peeped out of the window and saw that only her house was without power. Her mother took a candle and walked outside to check the fuse. The fuse was blown and she had to fix it. Kimi was amazed to see her mother fixing the fuse. She asked her, “Mumma, how did you learn this? This is a man’s job, aren’t you scared of doing such things!’’ Her mother said,smiling, “My dear, for one, your papa is always traveling for work. These are basic life skills and all of us should know these. It is a stereotype that fixing fuses is a man’s job. And by the way, I think I am much better than your father at fixing these things’’ Kimi asked immediately, “What is a stereotype?’’ Her mother explained, “Stereotype is like a general statement about a person or group of persons. Something that we relate with a person or a group of people without obtaining all information about them. It is like saying something without thinking about it. People usually think that stereotypes are true. But stereotypes are not facts or rules and can be changed. For example people say that boys and men don’t cry. But you know that your father cries often while watching emotional scenes in a movie. Does that mean he’s not a man?’’ Kimi hugged her mother and said, “You are right mumma. Men can also cry when they get emotional. Today I was laughing at Vivan because he was wearing a pink sweater. This is also a stereotype that boys don’t wear pink. Isn’t it?’’ “Yes Kimi, this is a stereotype. Good that you realized this. Let’s go to sleep, it’s getting late’’ her mother said.