God created us equal, except our anatomy. And at some point
in history we chose to treat Her less than us. But this was not always the case.
In fact we treated Her far more superior to us.
Yes we did. When we revered Her as Goddess of Power, Wisdom and Wealth,
which She never claimed but since we knew She is the author of our cosmic story
and therefore must be respected. Surprisingly, our far ‘less evolved’ ancestors
were evolved enough to give Her the rightful place where she belonged.
But then we changed, just as if Adam ate another forbidden Apple
from the ‘Garden of Eden’, and this time without any instigation. And as an
aftereffect, suddenly Adam got wrongly obsessed with his physical prowess and deceptive
intellect. Fueled by His own insecurities and emotional frailties He turned
towards a patriarchal setup. A society where Men controlled everything and
thus, begun an era of gender inequality. Where She was treated less than Him. Her
predicament started the moment She was born. Her feelings and aspirations for
herself were secondary. As Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother, She is expected to
sacrifice and just remain fringe in this system. She was first objectified and made
defenseless, and then restricted with oppressive rules in the name of her protection.
She has to now hide herself from His penetrating and lustrous eyes, and if she
is violated, her own morality is questioned. She can be assaulted, tortured, traded
by Him, yet no one questioned His misdeeds because He was an integral fragment
of this Patriarchal core. And in the name of protecting Her from His savages, He
assumed all the authority to consume Her.
Still She endures it all quietly. Why? Has politeness and
lack of aggression become the weakness of women? Women tend not to make demands
for them, protest less, adjust more, and mostly go with the flow. She sacrifices
herself in every role she serves. Despite men making misogynistic statements
every now and then, She is the one who is blamed as hypersensitive, over
emotional and self-obsessed. But friends, let us ponder upon the fact that we
live in a world where exchanging indecent jokes is an integral part of male
bonding, sharing lewd female pictures are acceptable, and where worst possible
abuses include mention of females. We also chose to remain silent if some cruelty
is committed against Her in front of us, overlooking it as ‘Personal matter’.
Think, if this is not the worst kind of hypocrisy then what
is. Are these kinds of ostrich like behaviors not instigating gender insensitivity
and female objectification among us? Is it not rising day by day and proliferating
further? So, how can we possibly expect men to be sensitive to women and their
issues? So don’t get surprised when you see rising misdemeanor against women? Perhaps
this is the reason there are plethora of rules for Her, and not even one for
Him. Should we not stop penalizing Her for His mistakes?
Thankfully, the Real Men are raising their voices. They want
Her to lead this world across the continuum, from Social to Corporate to
Academics to Politics to Defense. Because they know if given equal opportunity,
She is just as equal to men in strength, organizational skills, planning, diligence,
perseverance, multitasking, and whatever Men have been boasting about
themselves through centuries. Besides, she is more sensitive, humble,
compassionate and harmonious towards the foundations of human race. And believe
me; She will never confine Him to the fringe like He did to Her, because she is
not insecure or emotionally frail like Him. She just wishes to be treated equal
and not like a deity casted in stone.
So can we make Her feel safe and equal among us? Can we sensitize
the society against the traditional patriarchal mindset, the biases, and join
shoulders with Her to fight against discrimination and injustice? Shall we not
weed out all references of women objectification and damaging mention from our religious,
social and educational Text? Should we not track all the crimes committed against
women until the justice is rendered, timely and justly? Let the self-righteous Khap
Panchayat know that India has progressed from medieval era many centuries ago
and their dictates for women are unnecessary and inconsequential today. Shall
we not protest against the insult and disrespect being caused by these patriarchal
lords to the symbols of Women success? Let aggressors and violators know that She
is not alone anymore. And let Real men not stop until the day they see equal women
participation in Corporate offices, Parliament, Civil services, Judiciary, Law
enforcement and Board rooms. If nothing else, it will surely inflate your karmic
account, if you believe so.
I have taken a simple pledge “I will not let her down as a father,
son, brother, husband, boss, colleague, friend, neighbor, and also as an unknown
stranger.”
What about you?
