Shiekh Eras Sumreen
“To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her, man could not be.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
Hypocrisy is in the blood of our country. Idolising our great leaders and freedom fighters is hallmark of patriotism and snatching away the independence of the women of the country on the questions of shame, honour, and tradition is also patriotism. Why? Because protecting the so called tradition and culture of the country by these self proclaimed protectors is a very honourable crime.
India is the land of customs, traditions and values and so on. Our society never fails to astound me with their plain weird; just out of the world logic. Let me give you some examples: Recently I came across news of a 20 year old girl fighting death in the hospital. Why? What was her crime? She wore Western outfit (Jeans) to college. Poor girl! How dare she wear such clothes? Was she completely out of her mind? That stupid girl should have taken inspiration from all these women that the men of our country idolise so much – Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra,Sunny Leone, PV sindhu, Sakshi Malik etc etc . They always step out clad in sarees and salwar suits wearing a ghoongat… isn’t it?
It is the irony of our country’s fate that we are unable to understand that – “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. On one hand we have been celebrating the achievements of the brave daughters of our country like PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Deepika Padukone, Kiran Bedi, Kalpana Chawala, Irom Sharmilla, Arundhati Bhattacharya and a thousand more; on the other hand as per the report of 2013, National Crime Records Bureau (2013) startled the nation stating- Over 32000 murders, 19000 rapes, 7500 dowry deaths, 36500 molestation cases in the last year with many unreported cases .
When any girl in our society talks about gender discrimination, we are told again and again that it wasn’t an issue any more – that women were equal and we needed to lighten up, and stop making a fuss about nothing. Yes of course, the society is always right. Stupid girls making an issue out of such normal incidents such as:
* A female engineer who was dismissed in the workplace as a “cute little girl”.
* A designer whose boss told her he would never employ an unattractive woman.
* A doctor who was told by a senior consultant to sit on his lap if she wanted his help interpreting an x-ray.
* A man who was ridiculed by his colleagues for wanting to share parental leave with his partner.
* A sixteen-year old girl who said it didn’t matter what she did with her life, whether she became a teacher or a doctor, because she felt that as a woman, she would only be a success if she was “beautiful” and “hot”.
* A student who suffered groping from her professor in silence because she was just a mere girl.
* A child who experienced systematic abuse from a family member but was disbelieved when she tried to speak out.
* An elderly woman who carried the burden of her rape in silence for her whole life, because society had taught her it was her own fault.
Yes people! Of course these minor incidents should just be ignored because they are obviously not interconnected with the major evil of rape, assault, sexism, dowry deaths and domestic violence. Obviously catcalling a woman with such respectful words like “tota”, “pataka” etc etc. and whistles is just a hobby of men. These men having fun stalking or eve teasing would never ever commit a horrible crime such as rape. They are just having fun and passing time with their favourite hobbies.
This country is beyond my understanding. It’s okay to pee in public but a crime to wear a skirt. Every man wants a virgin bride but it does not matter whether he visits prostitution centres on a regular basis. A home maker who works so hard 24 hours is always introduced as “Oh! She is not working. She is just a housewife.” If a boy is with six girls, he is a stud; if a girl is just talking with boys, she is characterless. If a girl finally finds the courage to speak up about rape, she has to face questions like “Had you been drinking?” “What were you wearing?” “Did you lead him on?” All these men who want to go out there and protect women and safeguard their modesty, all the self proclaimed protectors of shame and honour, who are constantly watching girls like hawks, my request is “Please don’t watch us! Look Away!” That will be enough to solve most of our problems.
My humble request to the society “bête padhao, bête bachao , betiya apneaap bach jayengi”. (“Educate your boys, save boys: girls will automatically be saved” .)
(The author is a medical student GMC)
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