She Cooks For Family Before Cancer Surgery, Love Or Thankless Labour?

Will you define it as unconditional love or unpaid labour for a  woman who prepared a meal just before her breast cancer surgery? Haven't we all heard statements like "A mother's love is unlike any other," "A woman can make sacrifices like no other," and "A woman devotes her life to her children and family?"

With time, we may have persuaded ourselves that the patriarchal concept that oppresses women is actually how she fulfils her responsibility to her family.

Young women are often given examples from the past to justify the labour women do at home. The way of life that was imposed on them at that time has now become a tradition.

Tweet About Woman Cooking Before Cancer Surgery Goes Viral:

On the internet, we saw a mother doing kitchen work while on oxygen support, and the act was praised. Some people even romanticised the incident, claiming that it was her choice. It is, without a doubt, possible. On the other hand, years of patriarchal oppression can easily lead to women succumbing to the conditioning. The lines between love and slavery can become blurred when someone is gaslighted. 

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When Alishba, a Twitter user, shared an incident in which her aunt spent the entire day cooking when she needed to be operated on for breast cancer the next day, a similar debate erupted. The woman prepared the meal ahead of time because she won't be able to feed her family while recovering from surgery.

This is can be called the unrealistic expectations from women which they have to fulfill for society. The family is unconcerned and no one can say for sure if it is a choice.

Some of the responses on social media were meant to educate the woman, pointing out the problematic tradition and claiming that she is bringing a "negative aspect" to otherwise common practice.

Women in our own families have unwittingly attempted to pass on this legacy as values to us. Women have happily accepted patriarchal norms as their way of life.

It’s time for us to put an end to this type of thinking as the women who feed us shouldn’t be seen as a victim of patriarchal society but should be given equal respect and equality as working men or women. 

Views expressed by the author are their own. Feature Image for representational purposes only.

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