To achieve equality in the true sense, society needs women who speak for themselves and others. And it is a parents’ responsibility to send outspoken women leaders in society.

Not their marital status, but women’s free will gets to decide what they wear, where they go and what they do. Stop making marriage women’s sole source of freedom.

When are we going to perceive women as citizens with rights? When are we going to value their choices and decisions? How long women will be criticised for being too liberated? It is only unfortunate that parents themselves shame their daughters for being outspoken.

Isn’t the very expectation that women should speak gently based on the idea that women never have anything important to say or to be heard? Do only men’s opinions, consent and resistance matter?

Do we understand the consequence of coercing the idea of control in relationships? They will become battlegrounds of asserting domination, with no space for love and understanding.

Today when women are shattering glass ceilings at every perch, should these expectations continue to breathe?  

Be it a man or a woman, no one should be forced to let patriarchal watchdogs infringe on their privacy. With the right to privacy comes the right to make a choice. And every woman deserves to have a life of their own choice.

But dear parents, it is high time you understand that education and employment are the powerful tools using which women can resist any sort of injustice in their lives. More than marriage, women need the companionship of degrees and salary to live happily.

If mothers won’t understand the needs of their daughters, then who will? Dear mothers, are you listening?

But if I am not capable of paying my mother for the role she plays in my life, then at least I must respect her as my role model in life. I must stand up for her rights and empower her to demand her freedom.