You know my code, hoes before broes. Uteruses before duderusus. Ovaries before Brovaries.
One of the biggest supporters of feminism is Leslie Knope, who has pictures of all the women she reveres, displayed on her desk. She is a fierce, stubborn and passionate. Her charisma and will to help people and regain their confidence in city government is impressive.
She dresses up as Rosie the Riveter on Halloween and has galantines before valentines. Even as she is being attacked by her political rivals, she maintains her cool and doesn’t attack them back personally, instead she appreciates them for their skill and caliber. When Jen Barkley tried to weaken her campaign as City Counsellor, Leslie first complimented her for being a clever and smart woman and then began to defend herself. There is a certain grace she maintains and upholds her respect for women regardless of how they treat her.
When April was being inefficient and also vindictive towards Ann, her best friend, Leslie acted maturely and took control of the situation. She chose Ben as her husband who put her ambitions before his and even became her political manager as she ran her campaign. Pawnee may be a small town, but it was big on the map because of Leslie’s commitment to make it the best city in all of America.
We Indians, live in the Black and White world with our level of excitement and passion being 0 or 100. But as Indian women we need to learn how to step out of our world consisting of just our husband and children to pursuing a passion that makes us, us. For me, it is working towards Gender sensitization in CSR, for you it could be as small as taking a hobby of knitting to something big as taking a degree in behavioral economics. Do what makes you happy, make a change and say ‘(K)nope’ to being ordinary.
About the Author
Nandini Agarwal is majoring in Finance and Accounting at the University of South Florida where she is actively involved on campus and in the Tampa Bay community. Nandini has lived in New Delhi, India for sixteen years and she is back in the city to intern with CSR as she is pursuing an undergraduate research project on the impediments that women face in India to become financially aware and independent.
