Feminism Can't Lift Bricks, Right?

"These feminists only care about MNC jobs."

"Why don't they fight to work in mines or on construction sites?" "Come to the real world, madam. Real women work without slogans." Ah yes, the classic line "Feminism melts under the sun."

Apparently, unless women are swinging hammers or ploughing fields while quoting Simone de Beauvoir, they're just enjoying imported feminism over iced lattes.

So let's sweat this one out together, shall we?

Latha - The Woman Who Carries Bricks and Babies

Latha starts her day at 5 AM. She makes rice for her 4-year-old, braids her hair, ties a scarf around her face, and leaves for the construction site nearby.

She hoists bricks, lifts sacks of sand, and balances cement trays on her head for ten hours a day.

The contractor calls her "didi", but won't pay her equal wages. Men get ₹450, she gets ₹300; "because they do more work," he claims — as she carries loads twice without complaint.

She has no maternity leave, no crèche, no sympathy. Once, her child fell sick, and when she asked to leave early, she was told, "If you can't manage home and work, don't come at all."

Feminism? She doesn't use the word. But every time she demands equal pay or safety or rest, she's living its truth.

Just because she's not shouting slogans in English doesn't mean she isn't resisting.

Ramya - The Office Worker Who Never Clocks Out

Ramya works as a billing assistant at a small textile firm in Bengaluru. She earns ₹17,000 a month. After rent, groceries, her children's school fees, and her in-laws' medicines, she's left with ₹1,400 — which she usually saves just in case someone falls sick.

She travels 2 hours daily, returns by 7 PM, and still has to cook dinner, help her kids with homework, and massage her mother-in-law's legs while her husband watches the news.

She once asked if she could work part-time or get flexi-hours. Her manager smirked:
"Don't expect special treatment. Office is not your kitchen."

She doesn't want "special" anything. Just fairness.

But every time she raises her voice, even a little — someone says she's "too modern," or "trying to bring feminism into tradition."

Funny how "tradition" always means more work for women.

Namrata - The Stay-at-Home Worker Who's Always on Shift

Namrata doesn't have a salary, a job title, or a resignation option.

She has two children, both under 8. She packs their tiffins, drops them to school, makes three meals a day, does laundry, and manages a home with zero help.

Her husband says, "You're lucky. You don't have to go to office."

She smiles, but every day feels like a 16-hour shift. There's no applause, no raise, no Sunday off.

If the house is clean, kids are fed, and no one falls sick — it's considered "normal." If anything slips, "What were you doing all day?" follows.

Namrata doesn't talk about "women's rights." But she often wonders, "When do I get to be a person, not just a mother?"

Reality Check - from your friendly neighbourhood tired feminist 🧹

Women in India contribute massively to the economy, yet remain underpaid, overworked, and invisible:

Over 81% of female workers are engaged in agriculture, construction, and informal sectors, often earning 30-50% less than men for the same work.
In construction, women make up nearly 30% of the workforce but are mostly assigned to manual, low-paid tasks with no safety measures.
According to the Time Use Survey (2019), Indian women spend 7.2 hours/day on unpaid domestic work (cooking, cleaning, caregiving), while men spend just 47 minutes.
This unpaid labour, if monetized, would contribute ₹19 lakh crore annually to GDP — more than the combined education and health budgets.
A 2022 report by Azim Premji University found that only 19% of urban women above the age of 15 are in paid work. Among those, 42% quit within 3 years due to care work and lack of support.

Feminism doesn't melt under hard work; it exists because of it.