She, Her and Them

Them:- You are no match for us, how much more equality do you need?

She:- Equality? When, how and where?

Who has been fair to us and since when? We have been denied what rightfully should be ours. Neither history supported us, neither the geographical spread was of use. Even religion disappointed us.

Remember Plato, the great Philo, he talked communism of wives, reduced our identity and the idea of family. The great great Chanakya, whose teachings are followed even to this day called us a bag of flesh, bones and blood, called us a cheat and deceit, a symbol of low moral character and untruth. He propagated that duplicity, trickery, greed and coquetry are our inherent characters. Spare a hundred rupee note to see it for yourself. The Machiavelli of India had systematically degraded the status of women. He not only explained the existing system at that time, but cemented the toxicity for all times to come.

Our right to choose our leader, the right to vote, has been a recently acquired luxury. Leaders believed that women should not have the right to vote. If democratic ethics is 2500 years old then it wasn’t until late 1890 that women voted for the first time. The most advanced nations of the world viz. the United States allowed its women only in 1920 and Switzerland in 1971. Having a majority in any Parliament is a distant dream for us.

The mighty religions of the world also did a little justice for us. Is it not a joke that there has been no head of religious office, a woman. We would love to hear a pope, a maulvi or a shankaracharya, a woman. There are many centers of practice that ban entry of women, have restricted access. Talk about sacrifices in religion, and women are the target. Is equality to right of practicing a religion, too much to ask for?

A baby girl has already won a war even before she is born. The war against female foeticide. The society secretly puts in bias in names. Komal, khushboo and all subtle and soft names are only for us. Look at the names given to men. Loha singh, some xyz pratap singh and all burning, flaming apparently tough epiphets are reserved for them. Two years into life and paths start diverging. She is taught to play ghar – ghar. Welcome to my Home, I am the homemaker. Let me make some food for you, said she. And the baby boys are given plastic guns as toys. Home tasks are now bifurcated into internal and external depending upon gender, where external tasks are reserved for men.

She has to look and access herself even before she could go to her balcony, whereas he can travel thousands of miles in shorts. When mother nature hasn’t differentiated between sex, then who are we to differentiate genders. We are objectified to sell soaps, clothes and what not.

Have you seen family structures? The family consists of father, mother, then girl, girl, girl, girl and then finally a boy. Seems like they copulated till the time they didn't have a male child. There are families where elder sisters call their younger brothers as “Bhaiya”, a typical respectable connotation, which ultimately gives him the right to decide for her dressing sense, timings, choosing a partner and her fate.

A bird cannot fly with a single wing, said Swami Vivekananda, yet you put her under veil, bangles. From Sita Mata to an everyday Nirbhaya, She has been subjected to trial by ordeal.

It should not be a She, they said. It cannot be a She, said She. She needs to be fierce, courageous, willing to bleed every month, determined, which you aren’t. The day isn’t far that she would snatch it and undo the historical wrongs inflicted upon her.