Gender Construction of a Woman

(As part of an academic assignment, we were asked to do a character sketch of a fictional woman and write a story to go along with that. So, here goes.)

Character Sketch

Height: 5 feet 5 inches
Medium build
Shoulder-length wavy, black hair
Wears glasses
Perfectly manicured nails and clean feet!
Big, black eyes and a sharp pointed nose.


A blast of cold air hit her as soon as she entered the air-conditioned office. Namrata was impeccably dressed, as always, in formal pants and a shirt. The only accessory she was missing today was a curve on her mouth. "Good morning, ma'am!", her secretary greeted her. She greeted her back, trying not to snap.

Namrata had been working at this firm for the past five years. Through hard work, dedication, and a lot of patience, she had finally become a team-lead recently, one of the perks of which was having her own secretary.

She sat down at her desk and checked her schedule for the day. She was known for her punctuality and for the professionalism with which she dealt with her clients. Keeping her emotions at bay, she kick started the day with a couple of routine client calls.

Satisfied that things were on track, Namrata started rewinding the whole morning in her head.

It had started off as any other normal day. After having a bath, she walked into the kitchen to whip up some breakfast. "Hey sunshine! Did you sleep well?" In walked her husband with a radiant smile on his face. Just as she was about to respond, her phone started ringing.

It was her American counterpart who had called to give her an update on a client they had been trying to attract and up sell to for a while now. Their client had replied in the negative even after a lot of persuasion.

Frustrated with this news which would reflect poorly on her yearly performance appraisal, Namrata cut the call and turned to the stove. To make matters worse, she realized the scrambled eggs had burnt whilst she was on the call.

"Is everything fine?", her husband inquired. "No, everything is going wrong", she snapped. "Make some breakfast for yourself. I'll grab something to eat in office" Namrata retorted and stormed out.

Now that she had had some time to calm down and introspect, she realized how badly she had reacted. She picked up the phone and dialed her husband's number. "Hey, I am sorry. I reacted so badly this morning. There was this client..." "I figured as much. Don't worry, we all have such days", her husband cut her  mid-sentence. Smiling to herself, Namrata said "You're awesome! I will see you in the evening." Feeling much better, she heaved a huge sigh of relief and got back to work. It would be another long day, but the financial independence was totally worth it!