Before I wish a happy women's day, let me address the statement that most have faced at some point of time in life and that is this, "Behave like a woman"! of course, its sounds more like an ultimatum than a statement :)
Ok, what does it take to be a woman? A person who understands everything without expecting to be understood, a person who has been taught to give away, without expectating ,some day, she would be given too, a person who learns to overlook follies and faults, sometimes, living with the harsh critical comments that may come her way, when she makes a mistake of her “own”, a person who is necessitated to “act sensibly”, at all times, however strong the urge might be, to sometimes be a little stupid, even appear foolish, a person who is expected to be demonstrate her “gratitude” more often, to the privileges that have been bestowed upon her, a person who is more often that not, required to trade off her judgments in favour of family sensibilities. In addition to this, she is expected to be graceful, suave, well polished, well behaved, elegant, like “gold”...( with prices of gold, skyrocketing, it remains, still an old time favourite for most, hence the word :))....The word “woman” seems loaded with pellets of expectations, of keeping others before self, of dissolving the “I” in “ “You”, perhaps this is a reason, there is a day to celebrate the spirit of womanhood, a day specially for “Woman”, Man, we are honoured!!!!!!!!!!
There is no dearth of shows centered around women, the subject makes for a good family soap, especially the sacrificial lamb types, who will send fountains of tears rolling down our cheeks. To some extent, the culture is to be blamed, for championing the thought, that a woman is no equal to a man, and should be grateful of being “presented” with the opportunities that can prove her upbringing as a woman. I fail to understand why this emphasis on relegation than on upholding. Why does the gender war look like a battle for rights, why are we constantly striving to establish who is supreme? By celebrating a woman’s day, somewhere, we are silently acknowledging that we are treated unfairly, we are not given, what we deserve for taking the reins of a woman, somewhere, we are desperately trying to prove that we are in a lot of ways, superior to men. Are we saying that we need a trophy, after miles of running in the grit and dust, when the others were sitting under the shade? I have no misgivings about the benevolent intentions of the concept, but having an “occasion” to celebrate womanhood, means that it is not our own, it is not something that comes with the virtue of having born with it, but having earned it. And that is where the problem lies, where it seems a little skewed to me. We are not sending out a message that because we belong to the more tolerant category, we need to be respected more, we are simply saying, that just because we have this ability, does not mean, that you push us over the edge to see if we would survive that fall. Just because we tend to sacrifice more often does not mean that there is an inconsequential meaning to our self esteem and aspirations, just because we display our emotions more profoundly, does not mean that we have little need of them ourselves.
Let us appreciate the fact that a man and a woman, is the handicraft art of God, both blessed with different faculties, exclusive to each kind. That a man is equally "beautiful" as a woman. That we are both equal and deserve to be appreciated for what we are. A man and a woman, essentially different as chalk and cheese are made to compliment each other, it’s like creating a statue, carved out of a monolith. The stone which forms the hand cannot claim to be greater than the one that forms the feet. Each has its own purpose, to form the whole. We are like the ends of a weighing scale, the purpose of which is to keep equilibrium in good stead.
Ok, what does it take to be a woman? A person who understands everything without expecting to be understood, a person who has been taught to give away, without expectating ,some day, she would be given too, a person who learns to overlook follies and faults, sometimes, living with the harsh critical comments that may come her way, when she makes a mistake of her “own”, a person who is necessitated to “act sensibly”, at all times, however strong the urge might be, to sometimes be a little stupid, even appear foolish, a person who is expected to be demonstrate her “gratitude” more often, to the privileges that have been bestowed upon her, a person who is more often that not, required to trade off her judgments in favour of family sensibilities. In addition to this, she is expected to be graceful, suave, well polished, well behaved, elegant, like “gold”...( with prices of gold, skyrocketing, it remains, still an old time favourite for most, hence the word :))....The word “woman” seems loaded with pellets of expectations, of keeping others before self, of dissolving the “I” in “ “You”, perhaps this is a reason, there is a day to celebrate the spirit of womanhood, a day specially for “Woman”, Man, we are honoured!!!!!!!!!!
There is no dearth of shows centered around women, the subject makes for a good family soap, especially the sacrificial lamb types, who will send fountains of tears rolling down our cheeks. To some extent, the culture is to be blamed, for championing the thought, that a woman is no equal to a man, and should be grateful of being “presented” with the opportunities that can prove her upbringing as a woman. I fail to understand why this emphasis on relegation than on upholding. Why does the gender war look like a battle for rights, why are we constantly striving to establish who is supreme? By celebrating a woman’s day, somewhere, we are silently acknowledging that we are treated unfairly, we are not given, what we deserve for taking the reins of a woman, somewhere, we are desperately trying to prove that we are in a lot of ways, superior to men. Are we saying that we need a trophy, after miles of running in the grit and dust, when the others were sitting under the shade? I have no misgivings about the benevolent intentions of the concept, but having an “occasion” to celebrate womanhood, means that it is not our own, it is not something that comes with the virtue of having born with it, but having earned it. And that is where the problem lies, where it seems a little skewed to me. We are not sending out a message that because we belong to the more tolerant category, we need to be respected more, we are simply saying, that just because we have this ability, does not mean, that you push us over the edge to see if we would survive that fall. Just because we tend to sacrifice more often does not mean that there is an inconsequential meaning to our self esteem and aspirations, just because we display our emotions more profoundly, does not mean that we have little need of them ourselves.
Let us appreciate the fact that a man and a woman, is the handicraft art of God, both blessed with different faculties, exclusive to each kind. That a man is equally "beautiful" as a woman. That we are both equal and deserve to be appreciated for what we are. A man and a woman, essentially different as chalk and cheese are made to compliment each other, it’s like creating a statue, carved out of a monolith. The stone which forms the hand cannot claim to be greater than the one that forms the feet. Each has its own purpose, to form the whole. We are like the ends of a weighing scale, the purpose of which is to keep equilibrium in good stead.
No comments:
Post a Comment