Sometimes I wish I'd documented all my thoughts about dismantling patriarchy in a diary or a journal when I was younger. I wish this now, because I recently read some letters I'd written to a distant friend on role of women in workplaces and this uneven household/work system. And I realised my thoughts on certain books like Wuthering Heights or Virginia Woolf's writings and Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar have undergone a slight change. Maybe I was young, back when I first read these books. I was disappointed by the portrayal of women and it marred my understanding about the quality of life 19th century women lived in.
SO, the thoughts on tramping patriarchy also arose from two recent incidents seen in India. One, the Happy to Bleed project which started as a reaction to some Temple Trustee's atrocious remarks against menstruating women in Kerala, by women of all age groups on Twitter and other social media. The other is the story of a woman breaking a 400 year old tradition after she climbed the shrine and worshipped the stone idol at Shani Shinganapur. Reports come in that the priests then purified the idol and suspended seven temple workers for their negligence. I say, ABANDON THESE RITUALS. If women still can't access a place of worship in this age of equality and freedom, let's boycott these places and traditions. We don't need these regressive mindsets dictating us about our body rights or patriarchal authorities body shaming us. What for? Enough is said and written about woman as the divine deity that we abhor when she's menstruating. Really, why is patriarchy so afraid of menstrual blood? I think we should really cash in on this. But we won't. Beneath all our patient stand on these ridiculous incidents that still marr a modern woman's life in urban and rural areas alike, our participation as the equal gender needs to be reinforced like never before. We now need not only a feminist movement but a movement that will encompass and surpass the ideals and diktats of patriarchy. Voice yourselves. Speak up against the harmful prejudiced customs still followed in your household, neighbourhood, your nation. Words are very powerful weapons of destruction. If we choose them to be, we could crumble patriarchal value systems and establish a free-willed, listening society that shall truly make us civilized and behave like one.
Support each other and hear out the vocals for help and rehabilitation. If we stand united by each other, will we be able to hammer out the nuclei of walled patriarchy. It's never too late to start a revolution.
SO, the thoughts on tramping patriarchy also arose from two recent incidents seen in India. One, the Happy to Bleed project which started as a reaction to some Temple Trustee's atrocious remarks against menstruating women in Kerala, by women of all age groups on Twitter and other social media. The other is the story of a woman breaking a 400 year old tradition after she climbed the shrine and worshipped the stone idol at Shani Shinganapur. Reports come in that the priests then purified the idol and suspended seven temple workers for their negligence. I say, ABANDON THESE RITUALS. If women still can't access a place of worship in this age of equality and freedom, let's boycott these places and traditions. We don't need these regressive mindsets dictating us about our body rights or patriarchal authorities body shaming us. What for? Enough is said and written about woman as the divine deity that we abhor when she's menstruating. Really, why is patriarchy so afraid of menstrual blood? I think we should really cash in on this. But we won't. Beneath all our patient stand on these ridiculous incidents that still marr a modern woman's life in urban and rural areas alike, our participation as the equal gender needs to be reinforced like never before. We now need not only a feminist movement but a movement that will encompass and surpass the ideals and diktats of patriarchy. Voice yourselves. Speak up against the harmful prejudiced customs still followed in your household, neighbourhood, your nation. Words are very powerful weapons of destruction. If we choose them to be, we could crumble patriarchal value systems and establish a free-willed, listening society that shall truly make us civilized and behave like one.
Support each other and hear out the vocals for help and rehabilitation. If we stand united by each other, will we be able to hammer out the nuclei of walled patriarchy. It's never too late to start a revolution.
Comments
Post a Comment