What the world saw
was a happy, peaceful, driven face.
What lay behind
was an upsurge of tidal chaos.
was a happy, peaceful, driven face.
What lay behind
was an upsurge of tidal chaos.
Monday 25 May 2020
Monday 18 May 2020
The Invisibles
Brick by brick,
laid by us,
make your comfortable dwellings.
Concrete and cement
laid by us,
ensure your swift movements.
Neither are we comfortable
nor are our movements swift,
We are the Invisibles.
so, we have always been.
laid by us,
make your comfortable dwellings.
Concrete and cement
laid by us,
ensure your swift movements.
Neither are we comfortable
nor are our movements swift,
We are the Invisibles.
so, we have always been.
Thursday 7 May 2020
Gender bias
When I started reading the Bhagwad Gita*, I realized the text was meant only for men. Here was a text which I was looking forward to, which dealt with uplifting the human experience with some insight into how to live in this web of suffering on the earth. However, a few pages into it, I got to know that the text's protagonist was a 'man' and not an individual in general. While I read this one sentence where the author has interpreted it as "man should avoid company of women...'(if my memory serves me right), I thought since time immemorial, we the women have been invisible to this other half. It is like we do not exist. Or if we do, we are like satellites in Men's orbits.
We are now in the 21st century, an era of advancements in technology, human faculties and yet, the society ( a major chunk of it) denies the presence of the woman. In this, not only are we doing injustice to women but also to men by creating/ promoting a false sense of supremacy amongst them. This is what we have been propagating generations after generations and the result is that even in this century we have men, young boys who believe, the power lies with them. They are the Sun and everything else revolves around them, women included. Women are but an object of gratification, invisible, powerless, relegated to a second grade citizenship.
However, when women, who are as equal as their male counterparts in all regards, start reclaiming their spaces in all spheres, a sense of insecurity develops in some of these men who blindly believe in their might. The fallacy of being all powerful then comes crumbling down and they do not know how to deal with it. They more often than not do resort to defining their power through showcasing their physical strength or calling names or simply denigrating the woman. This is where we as a society have faltered. As a society, this becomes our collective failure. We let these men remain in their bubble of falsehood.
In this bubble, they are made to believe that each gender has fixed roles in the society. Some work are only the domain of women like taking care of the household and men would only be the earning member of the family. Of course things have changed in the current era, but it is undeniable that due to strong conditioning from the society, most men do believe in such categorizations. In fact, not only men, but some women also put faith in this division. All in the name of tradition and society's unfair biasness towards men. ( Not to forget that the rules were set by men )
Men also face the disadvantages of social conditioning where they are almost denied the right to express their feelings due to societal pressure; in case they do, it may make them appear weak in front of all. And how can the all mighty ever be rendered weak ! They need to put up an act lest they may be relegated to the second grade citizenship.
The biasness is so deeply rooted in our society that even centuries later we haven't been able to overcome them. In fact, I feel sometimes as and when we progress in time, majority of us are getting regressive and are holding these traditions/customs/rituals as strongly as ever. How are then we supposed to make advancements in terms of human condition?
While reading about the gendered languages and the biases that are against women even in the language that we use, I came across a feminised/gender neutral version of Bible. This then took me back to my reading of Bhagwad Gita and its male centric narrative. However, I think if Bhagwad Gita is not yet rewritten in feminised or gender neutral terms (which I am sure, someone would have definitely worked upon), I know what could be my next task.
* I had taken up reading the English version of Bhagwad Gita.
We are now in the 21st century, an era of advancements in technology, human faculties and yet, the society ( a major chunk of it) denies the presence of the woman. In this, not only are we doing injustice to women but also to men by creating/ promoting a false sense of supremacy amongst them. This is what we have been propagating generations after generations and the result is that even in this century we have men, young boys who believe, the power lies with them. They are the Sun and everything else revolves around them, women included. Women are but an object of gratification, invisible, powerless, relegated to a second grade citizenship.
However, when women, who are as equal as their male counterparts in all regards, start reclaiming their spaces in all spheres, a sense of insecurity develops in some of these men who blindly believe in their might. The fallacy of being all powerful then comes crumbling down and they do not know how to deal with it. They more often than not do resort to defining their power through showcasing their physical strength or calling names or simply denigrating the woman. This is where we as a society have faltered. As a society, this becomes our collective failure. We let these men remain in their bubble of falsehood.
In this bubble, they are made to believe that each gender has fixed roles in the society. Some work are only the domain of women like taking care of the household and men would only be the earning member of the family. Of course things have changed in the current era, but it is undeniable that due to strong conditioning from the society, most men do believe in such categorizations. In fact, not only men, but some women also put faith in this division. All in the name of tradition and society's unfair biasness towards men. ( Not to forget that the rules were set by men )
Men also face the disadvantages of social conditioning where they are almost denied the right to express their feelings due to societal pressure; in case they do, it may make them appear weak in front of all. And how can the all mighty ever be rendered weak ! They need to put up an act lest they may be relegated to the second grade citizenship.
The biasness is so deeply rooted in our society that even centuries later we haven't been able to overcome them. In fact, I feel sometimes as and when we progress in time, majority of us are getting regressive and are holding these traditions/customs/rituals as strongly as ever. How are then we supposed to make advancements in terms of human condition?
While reading about the gendered languages and the biases that are against women even in the language that we use, I came across a feminised/gender neutral version of Bible. This then took me back to my reading of Bhagwad Gita and its male centric narrative. However, I think if Bhagwad Gita is not yet rewritten in feminised or gender neutral terms (which I am sure, someone would have definitely worked upon), I know what could be my next task.
* I had taken up reading the English version of Bhagwad Gita.
Tuesday 5 May 2020
Saturday 2 May 2020
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