On the eve of International Women’s day I sat down to pen my
thoughts on stuff that is going on in my mind for the last few days.
I heard the remarks and comments in the BBC documentary. I
was wondering what made people say such things?? Let alone say, for many of us
it is impossible to even think that way.What I could understand is that the
root cause of this crisis in our society is the “Patriarchal mentality”.
Patriarchy is a social system in which: males hold primary power;
males predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social
privilege and control of property; and, in the domain of the family, fathers or
father-figures hold authority over women and children.
We are no longer Patriarchal society per se, but that
mentality is still ingrained in us. This made me search for Matriarchal
societies across the globe. Lets imagine
our society with the following characteristics.
- Women take a leading role in the family (owning property, making business decisions, etc.)
- Women have more power/autonomy in many regards than in many other cultures.
- Women is the head of the house. Female has absolute power; she decides the fate of all those living under her roof. The matriarch also manages the money and jobs of each family member.
- Let’s say in the past, may be in medieval times, there was no word for ‘father’ or ‘husband’, Women do not marry. Instead, they take as many lovers as they wish, cherry-picking them from within the tribe and inviting them for secret evening trysts.
What I am trying to communicate is
that it is all about the powerful class of society dominating the weaker class.
In my above imaginary society, Can one imagine a man raping a woman?? Can a man
asking for dowry??? Can a man abusing a female in the workplace????
So in such a situation, one will
not hear the terms like dowry, female foeticide, rape, Marital abuse etc. Yes
it might be true that males in that society might suffer and crimes might be
committed on them. But that is not my concern and there can be check & balances
for it.
Nevertheless what I am trying to
highlight is that this is a continuum. On one side we have Strong Patriarchal
system and on the other Strong Matriarchal system. It is necessary for our mentality
moves close to Matriarchal system.
What I want is that every single
time the following happen, he/she should be ashamed of themselves.
- A Man thinking that I don’t want a girl child !!!
- A Parent thinking that girls are burden to the family, don’t waste money on her education !!!
- A boss assigning responsibilities based on gender !!!
- A Man thinking that he can take decisions for his wife/daughter just because he is Male !!!
- A Politician commenting on what a girl should wear and what not to wear.
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And if he is not ashamed on
himself, then the society should make him feel ashamed on his thoughts and tell
him that he has a disease called “Patriarchal mentality”. He better get a
treatment.
Before i end, let me take this opportunity to wish all the Lovely ladies out there Happy Women's Day :-)
And hope and wish that someday we will live in a better and more harmonious society.
