The truth that be..

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!