Seema Pahwa says women ‘despising’ household chores ‘are going against nature’; Manoj Pahwa claims they ‘got trapped’ in modern society

Manoj Pahwa and Seema Pahwa shared that since men have traditionally been the breadwinners, women must take responsibility at home.

Manoj Pahwa and Seema Pahwa talks about gender roles. (Pic: Digital Commentary/YT)

Real-life and on-screen couple Manoj Pahwa and Seema Pahwa, who recently appeared together in the web series Perfect Family, opened up about gender roles in society and how they have shaped expectations within families for generations. They also shared that since men have traditionally been the breadwinners, women shouldn’t shy away from taking responsibility at home.

Seema Pahwa shared her perspective on how traditional roles were formed and why women often shoulder domestic responsibilities. She told Digital Commentary, “When the work was divided between men and women, that men will go out to work and women will stay at home, the reason behind this must have been a woman’s nature, a woman is very soft by nature, and she is a mother since birth. For her to take responsibility of the home comes automatically.”

Reflecting on her own life after marriage, Seema said she took over household duties such as cooking, preparing the children for school, and caring for her in-laws. “I didn’t revolt against the same,” she expressed. She added, “I thought I had to do this work because these are my duties. And it is not an obligation. I get satisfaction from it. I cook for Manoj when he goes for a shoot and I tell him that I’m not doing this for you, I’m doing this for myself because I feel good about it.”

Speaking about younger generations questioning traditional roles, she said, “I talk like an old woman to the youngsters when they revolt about gender roles… what is the problem in doing housework. I am also a career-oriented woman and I am balancing both work and home. If we despise housework, then we as women, we are going against our nature.”

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Manoj Pahwa echoed similar sentiments, attributing household roles to long-standing human behaviour. He said, “This is genetic behaviour. When a man used to go hunting, women used to take care of the kids at home. It was the man who would go hunt and arrange food. In modern society, girls got trapped because this nature is genetically ingrained in them but they also want to become independent. Double chakkar mein khud he fass gae (They got trapped in between two roles). Now they have to do both – house and outside work.”

He further added that societal shifts take time, “It takes thousands of years to change genetic behaviour, and now we are seeing a few examples of men staying at home when the women have a good career.”

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