There is absolutely no chance that you can ever forget when Women's day is.Media will very kindly remind you how you can 'celebrate' it with all the goodies you need without which you are incomplete. After Valentine's day this is a gala time for the market!
Coming straight to the point this post aint about women who have no clue when women's day is or what celebration is. There are millions of women in the country who don't even have the basic amenities to lead a dignified life, forget about rights for women,freedom etc. All they can afford to think is how to feed all those mouths everyday.Its about the so called 'empowered' women of today (who are me and you?). Those who have successful careers, are educated and 'independent'.I am sure this is not even sexist trying to blame men for anything and everything that is troubling us today.I am just wondering if we really have enough reasons to celebrate women's day.
Liberation
How many of us feel liberated? Has a lot of stuff changed in the last decade or two? True that today you may be going out in your pair of shorts or party late at night, but have you felt liberated by that? Definitely not when there are men(even women) out there to ogle at you, comment on your morality, lament about the loss of Indian culture and tradition,say you should dress decently(whatever that means..) and proclaim that you are the cause for your own misery and covering yourself from head to toe and following rules of society will keep you away from all trouble!
Hold on..this is not just what those old people on dress code boards in universities who say such things, there are young men out there who think this way too! I was pretty shocked once when one of my friends remarked that he felt very proud of himself for not 'eyeing' women the way others did. Isn't that his duty?? What is there to feel proud about that?How safe do you feel when you have to travel all alone sometime in the night? Isn't it restrictive that when women have careers like men, they will have to put in extra efforts for so many constraints?
Equality
Gone are the days when men proclaimed that they were superior to women. Now we are considered equal (at least treated so by many of them). Though nobody really says it out loud, that mindset still hasn't changed. Blame the patriarchal society- you are still a burden to be married off,even better if you were never born (many ensure that as well!)you still require protection by father,brother,husband, friend etc, you are never seen as capable as a man. True, there are many women occupying the top rungs of success but they have worked twice as much to get there!
Results?
Some have accepted this as a way of nature or life..they believe this is how it was supposed to be!
Some fight, realise it is futile, give in ,accept it and go back to being the first set of people.
Some are still fighting very hard..sometimes a tad bit too much to annoy everyone around who find them insane.
Some continue believing that the future is going to be much better for their daughters and grand daughters..
So ultimately it boils down to what could be done? I would simply ask most men to change their views. Its not wrong to admit that women are much better than them in many ways (and worse in some others). That they are not just objects of pleasure, they have not just hearts and souls but sharp minds as well! And yes..please stop trying to 'protect' us..if you all change we just wouldn't need it!
And to all those women out there..Do not make yourselves a victim and most importantly please don't believe in the stupid stereotypes yourself! If you do what you think is right its not 'erosion of Indian culture and traditions', you are not the only bearers of it. Moms could teach their sons all that they would to their daughters. Its many a times their fault that men harbour such views..upbringing could change a lot of things for all of us.
I sincerely believe that this post is not offensive to anyone. These are strictly my views and I take up all the responsibility for each and every sentence.Ultimately its all for the good of mankind (and womankind). A lot of things will change by just changing a few views.
Yet somewhere in the back of my head is a small voice that says there is certainly a ray of hope that all will be well very soon.But how 'soon' depends on all of us..I would end it by saying "Give us better reasons to celebrate women's day!"
