Something of Myself
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
In my university days, I was often labelled as 'Mr Feminist'...I am not sure if I am one, but every now and then, I keep wondering about women and issues that affect them. I was at it again today....just a little while ago...while reading the newspaper.
For women, all over the world, is there nothing else to aspire for except getting married and making babies? Is that the sole reason of their existence or have we (men and women) inculcated this sense over centuries? Even today an unmarried woman is looked upon as being weird, or 'not right' or 'defective'...Such epithets abound for such women. In fact, I just realised how swiftly I wrote 'such women.' Proves that in our society, even today, they are the ones who have strayed away from the 'norm' and hence deserve to be classified. But why? Why can't a woman be single, and not marry and not have any babies? What's wrong with that? Surely, if a man does that, he is still considered to be 'normal' and at times even labelled as being 'focused' on his career...Strange, isn't it?
Next, why can't a woman have sex in equal terms to a man? Why is her sexual desire/promise a taboo? Why is it that exploring her sexuality is equal to an almost 'natural' sense of guilt? What's wrong with sexual freedom?
I am sure there are many other men who would agree with me but then my thoughts, my words, my lines would hardly do anything to bring about a change...I wonder who can (if anybody at all).
I wonder if there will be a time when women will walk on the same plain as men. If they will be allowed to walk alone, on their own terms. If 'mankind' will be replaced by 'womankind'...Then again, if they did, how threatned will we feel? How comfortably will we go to bed, knowing that the morning will bring with itself changing times, where men will be men, but women will also be just that - women! A time when we will cease to classify them as either mothers or whores.
We are making bombs that can wipe out cities...even countries...We are inventing medicines that can eradicate the deadliest of diseases...We are discovering our biological identity, stepping onto the shoes of the Creator...All this and much more, while in our own backyard, after work, there lives a woman who has been a wife, a mother and has not given herself a chance to do anything else. For the absence of choice. Because we made the decision for her.
I feel ashamed to have a pair of balls between my legs.
For women, all over the world, is there nothing else to aspire for except getting married and making babies? Is that the sole reason of their existence or have we (men and women) inculcated this sense over centuries? Even today an unmarried woman is looked upon as being weird, or 'not right' or 'defective'...Such epithets abound for such women. In fact, I just realised how swiftly I wrote 'such women.' Proves that in our society, even today, they are the ones who have strayed away from the 'norm' and hence deserve to be classified. But why? Why can't a woman be single, and not marry and not have any babies? What's wrong with that? Surely, if a man does that, he is still considered to be 'normal' and at times even labelled as being 'focused' on his career...Strange, isn't it?
Next, why can't a woman have sex in equal terms to a man? Why is her sexual desire/promise a taboo? Why is it that exploring her sexuality is equal to an almost 'natural' sense of guilt? What's wrong with sexual freedom?
I am sure there are many other men who would agree with me but then my thoughts, my words, my lines would hardly do anything to bring about a change...I wonder who can (if anybody at all).
I wonder if there will be a time when women will walk on the same plain as men. If they will be allowed to walk alone, on their own terms. If 'mankind' will be replaced by 'womankind'...Then again, if they did, how threatned will we feel? How comfortably will we go to bed, knowing that the morning will bring with itself changing times, where men will be men, but women will also be just that - women! A time when we will cease to classify them as either mothers or whores.
We are making bombs that can wipe out cities...even countries...We are inventing medicines that can eradicate the deadliest of diseases...We are discovering our biological identity, stepping onto the shoes of the Creator...All this and much more, while in our own backyard, after work, there lives a woman who has been a wife, a mother and has not given herself a chance to do anything else. For the absence of choice. Because we made the decision for her.
I feel ashamed to have a pair of balls between my legs.
2 Comments:
Awesome daddu, after a long time. I don’t really believe in feminism, why we need to race against each other, when the truth is neither of the sex is complete without the other. As for the traditional role of a women being a homemaker, well, it’s a tough job, childbirth means risking ur own life to bring a new one into the world. Procreation is wonderful, and only women are given the rights. I think we should all be proud of it. Women can do anything; all she needs is the will to do so. If she wants to be single, she can be single and successful. Most of us inanely blame the society for our inability to come out of our cocooned world, the truth is we lack the will to do something different, we want to follow the age old tradition because its safe to do so. Hey I got a topic for my next post :-)
Btw, nice pic, really abstract
I don't agree with you when you say, "Women can do anything; all she needs is the will to do so. If she wants to be single, she can be single and successful."
That was the point of my writing...She might be able to do what she wants, but at what cost? What's the price tag? Humiliation? Outcasting? Classification? Why is it that something is right for men and wrong for women? Why should an unmarried woman be burned to death for bringing a child? It happens...I am sure you read such stuff...Why genital mutilation in Africa? Why the murders of the female chid? Trouble is no matter how much you 'want' to do 'something' as a 'woman', you will perhaps (and I hope I am proven wrong) forever be damned and doomed by people around you...worse, because you are a woman! You don't even need to go out and read such news Asha, just ask yourself - if you can put your hand on your heart and say 'I can do anything I want irrespective of what is expected of me because I am a woman/girlfriend/wife/mother/sister/daughter...' then I will put my discourse to rest...
Thank you for the comment btw...:)
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