Sadly, we live in a world that is filled with misogynists.
And people who propagate it. What saddens me further is that women grow up with
instincts that may or may not protect them from acts that such people do. It is now natural to be careful around
strange men when alone, try and be invisible so as not to attract wrath, be
constantly vigilant, dissect every sentence a person says, to make sure it has
no sexist implications, and fine tuning words coming out of our mouths, to make
sure we are not accidentally sending out wrong signals. Apparently it is too
easy for ‘them’ to get wrong signals. And we are responsible for their actions.
We wade through life praying that we do not have to face the
extremities of misogynist depravity, but expect, and face routines like the proclamations
that women aren’t good drivers (men are quite certain the lady will back up
into the car behind hers while reversing, or turn without indication, or ram
into the car ahead, etc.), that good culinary skills are the pinnacle of a
woman’s success (yes, that still happens), that most women are
characteristically ignorant about mechanics, physics, and geography (women aren’t
interested in specification of cars or computers alike, they cannot read maps,
or follow directions), that everything women do revolves around men (she is
wearing that dress because she wants a guy, any guy, to have sex with her, she acts
interested in his work because she wants to date him, she is talking to him
because she wants to sleep with him, she learnt to cook so she can cook for the
men in her life, and so on and so forth). As most of you know, there is an
ample amount of such generalizations that we can add to the list.
Women propagate such impossibly absurd social assumptions too.
And women mould to the rules that the society (which must include only those
men who think less of women, for whatever reason that they do, as there is no
other explanation for the sad state of affairs) has set for us. For one, we
have the set of rules of conduct for the ‘lady’, which is, of course, not
applicable to men. These rules include the most outrageous, gender biased criteria
that seem like an evil ploy to weaken us. Thou shalt not raise your voice:
tolerate all injustice without raising your voice. Thou shalt be friendly: talk
to every creep who is setting the crazy siren in your head on an overdrive,
because “he was just making a conversation! No need to be a bitch about it.”
Thou shalt behave with reservation: you absolutely must not come across as a
free-spirited, loud person who enjoys life. Thou shalt look pretty for thy man:
yes, because you are merely that (hopefully) beautiful vase that he brought
back from an auction, so it is your duty to sit pretty. Thou shalt listen to
thy elders: even if they want you to destroy your career to get married and
bear the babies of someone you do not love or want. My god! This list goes on
and on and on..
Even as I write, I can see how humorlessly absurd all of
this is. And yet it happens. We should naturally oppose such profanity, and it
should not have been a part of our society in the first place. We do not ask
for more than to just be left alone to do what every man is left alone to do –
to be. We do not seek hindrance, just as we do not interfere in the lives of
men. Just that – Gender Equality. Do not treat us like princesses; treat us as
equals, which we mentally are. Dominance over the physically weaker sex works
in the jungle, participated by species of lesser intelligence than ours, and
hence incapable of thinking or needing to think beyond. Let us make use of that
mass of neurons, grey cells, and what-not, that has led to the most amazing
creations in the world, and apply them to the most basic, obvious and natural paradigm
of gender equality.
Disclaimer: I do not generalize men. Though I speak of the
stereotype that walks the planet in a larger number, I do acknowledge those men
who are everything the women ask for them to be - just and brave - who simply don’t
seem to exist in numbers that would outshine those of the mentioned stereotype!
