Single Daughter - Tumblr Posts
The thing about being a single daughter in an Indian household is the constant helplessness you feel. My whole life I’ve had to hear every single relative tell my parents that they’re going to end up on their own as I anyways belong to someone else’s house. Every time I see my dad struggling to do heavy lifting jobs, but will not let me help, I’ve had to live with the disgusting feeling of being a pointless existence. For every minute of every day my parents spend worrying about the only daughters safety in this horrible world, I wish I was not who I was. Having to live with the fear I might not be able to be there for my aging parents because ultimately in a conservative society where I have to survive, a girl like me will always be someone else’s property. To watch your parents give their literal life towards fulfilling the one goal they think is the most precious of all- your marriage… it feels sickening, which I’m sure most of us desi girls feel constantly. The helplessness turns into anger. Anger at the injustice of this fucked up society and it’s norms, anger at my parents for believing in them and worse… for giving me the understanding of right and wrong only to then tell me shut up and adhere to the baseless and stupid rules. This anger eats away at any happiness, hope and fire I have in me. As each day goes by, I barely have the strength to breathe amidst this helplessness.
Everyone talks about the independent eldest daughter (rightfully so). Still, we should also talk about us single daughters who have had to be the son and daughter of the house while also being the parents to our parents and ourselves. We grow up having no one else to rely on and learning to do everything on our own to avoid being a burden. We are the girls who live so much in our heads that we feel like the loneliness is a lifelong companion we are born with. We are the girls who don't need to and cannot ask for help because we learn very early on that only they are going to be there for themselves. This is for the single daughters who constantly feel misunderstood and always alone.