Both born in India, my parents moved here, to the United States, where they then had me.

All of my life, I have lived in America although I have been to India for a few summer vacations, getting the chance to immerse myself in my ancestral culture. My heart--one part in the United States, one part in India--resembled a bridge, in a sense. Having that opportunity, allowing my identity have two homelands, has been a blessing. It's also taught me so much about the intersectionality of womanhood and being an Indian.

When you are an Indian, while you might love the culture and rich heritage that has been bestowed upon you, the sort of backwardness of Indian society might baffle you. Or, rather the culture may come as no shock, but simply serve as a regressive disappointment.

Don't get me wrong, India has made leaps. We are moving farther and farther away from a toxic patriarchy, but not quite far enough. Still, many in India prefer having a son over a daughter. If a couple has four girls and is yet to have a boy, they are seen as unlucky or cursed. What sin must they have committed? What awful sin, that God has chosen to withhold the joys of having a son from their grasp?

And you know, there's always the disrespect. In a sense, it's the small comments that offer the greatest sting, the greatest wound against your trust. If someone you know says something along the lines of "women are weak," "women belong in the kitchen" or "women who wear these clothes are whores," you silently decide that they inherently do not, and perhaps never will, respect you. Yet, to say anything publicly would make a scene or over-dramatize a situation.

It's kind similar to America, but in India, misogyny is much more widely-accepted, encouraged and omnipresent.

Even silently, you are taught that womanhood is a sort of burden. And perhaps the silent prejudice is the most toxic and most damaging. How can one fight against that which is so intrinsic that silence is enough to express it?

We have to fight against it because existence should never be considered a burden. It should be celebrated, whether you are a man, a woman or anything in between.