Swipe right into the siren's trap
A little while ago, I met a guy through a dating app who claimed to have been coming across several “gold diggers.” Another said that women refused to foot the dinner bill. Yet another accused his arranged matches of being interested only in his money.
I have a hard time believing these stories. First of all, I am unsure why any woman would walk into a date demanding a very expensive treatment. After years of being independent, has she suddenly damaged her brain?
Second of all, if there’s anything we have learnt in the last century or so, it is how important it is for women to have autonomy over their lives, and by corollary, their finances. Claims like these have the propensity to drag us back into the dark ages. Obviously, I am offended by these egregious claims.
If one thinks about this hard and long, one will realise that patriarchy keeps these archaic views alive. Desi families are known to erode their life savings and take out huge loans for their daughters’ weddings and dowries. Who, then, is doing 'digging for gold'?
Historically, women were not allowed to amass wealth. Till very recently, they could not even inherit their parents’ estate. Forget wealth, they could not and, in many parts, aren’t allowed an education or a vocation. According to the Global Gender Gap Report, it would take 134 years or 5 generations to close the gender gap, that is, by the year 2158! Let that sink in.
So in this lifetime and beyond, men will be richer while women who earn less but do double the work will continue to be labelled as ‘gold diggers’. Maybe it’s time we retire this label. It’s sexist and paints women as conniving sirens, luring men in solely for their money.
But what do I know? I am a woman.