The Inherited Silence

I have always considered being a woman as a blessing, maybe because I was never deprived of freedom for education or speech which a lot of woman crave even today. But when I come across heart wrenching news of rape, domestic violence, harassment that women are subjected to and there are only a few incidents which are registered in the police because a lot of women and their families are ashamed to address such injustice, I feel like it’s a curse to be born as a girl . What breaks my heart is even a five year old who doesn’t even know the meaning of sex , gets harassed and sometimes a lot of girls don’t even realize it’s harassment due to the lack of sex education. What angers me is how society has normalized catcalling on the streets, blaming a girl for wearing revealing dresses which according to them is an invitation to rape.

      People don’t understand the actual meaning of ‘FEMINISM’. It doesn’t mean that women are above men, it means that women need to be respected the way they are and nobody can forbid them from having a choice. Feminism , I believe is all about equality but unfortunately it has been misunderstood by the society. People term it as a form of attention seeking behavior by women but it is actually the only way a woman can speak up about her rights and injustice that they always experience. Women and men need each other but the society has always claimed a woman needs a man which according to me is completely false. Today ,I’ve come across a lot of women who are working and are capable of looking after themselves without needing a man to provide for them which exactly proves that woman are way ahead. If we talk about emotional support and getting married a man needs a woman as much she needs him. I’ve always wondered why the ladies in our house are always doing the household chores and no man even tries to help them because these are the unwritten rules of our society and most of the religions support these ideas. I’ve recently come across this quote which I felt it in my bones which states, “ Men support religion because religion supports men.” A girl on her periods is forbidden from entering a temple but a rapist, a criminal , a thief and a murderer are considered much more pure than a girl on her periods and hence can worship a God. I’ve seen it in many households that when a girl is on her periods she is kept isolated , cannot enter the kitchen , cannot sleep on the bed because she is impure but honestly these ideas are just ridiculous and people following them are pathetic. The actual reason why a woman should not enter the kitchen is because she is expected to take rest during her menstrual cycle , these are the only days she can get a proper rest but unfortunately society has a way in trying to prove how woman need to feel shameful for something beautiful that they possess.

      One more thing which I have always found disturbing is how women don’t support each other, perhaps I can never expect a man to respect me if women surrounding me feel ashamed of me. When a girl is assaulted or raped the concern of the girl’s family lies in society’s opinion about them but nobody truly cares about the girl’s mental and physical well-being. That girl has got to live with the fear of intimacy for the rest of her life but her parents are ashamed to address such an issue because according to them society’s opinion is much more important than their daughter’s wellbeing. Men keep objectifying women , women are viewed as a toy to play with. And where do these ideas come from? It’s our upbringing, etiquettes and also the increasing use of internet which provides easy access to sexual content, these contents glorify abuse .

      The change in these ideas can’t be overnight but we have to inculcate the ideas of equality, empathy and feminism in our education system.