Leisure as empowerment for women

Women for a very long time have been denied the luxury of leisure. Either explicitly by setting domestic and professional boundaries in a way that under the garb of chores and tasks negates them the rest they deserve, or implicitly by aligning the concept of rest with that of unproductivity, which is necessarily the antithesis of what "woman" is. In a historically evolving nature of patriarchal trope, woman has been portrayed as an individual who's a giver, nurturer, caretaker and an ever- productive agent for society, but mind you, only as long as it doesn't endanger the heroism endowed on patriarchy's agents.

Leisure can manifest in many forms- from a seemingly laborious activity like cooking a meal from scratch to doing absolutely nothing, there have been very strategic implications to negate these opportunities as that of leisure to women, to put into their minds that these activities or inactivities MUST serve a function - nominal or colossal. If you like to dance in your free time and there happens to be someone who knows that, chances are, you'll be asked to perform at a family event and the sighs and eyes resounding when you do not, are almost palpable. This is a personal experience.

However, patriarchy seldom liked to limit itself. It is like that- all-pervasive and often gets back at it's own furtherers. Men are often overworked, also denied from rest or pursuing creative hobbies that have been effeminated - like embroidery or baking. That makes two of us!

LEISURE AS A SPACE TO RECLAIM!

Leisure is a necessity for all women and men- working or not. It is a space for expression, reflection, or simply rest, all of which are necessary for one's mental well -being without which no notions of productivity can keep standing. Women need to reclaim this space by consciously assigning a time to themselves to naturalise this process over time. It is not to condition oneself as much as the society, to bifurcate this reclamation in a two-fold process. Women are often under a double system of exploitation - at home and at work, besides security and safety concerns everywhere that eats up one's mental energy. Leisure and a time of relaxation helps recharge oneself, come up with ideas that relieve stress, better work management and a lot more. It is no less than a right