Guest Blog: Sulekha Rawat:
International Women’s Day – One Day for a Lifetime
Is it 8th March already? International Women’s Day is a joke!
“God gave women intuition and femininity. Used properly, the combination easily jumbles the brain of any man I’ve ever met.” ~ Farrah Fawcett
Look how far we have come from the first Women’s Day celebration which took place in 1911. The bold headline in The Times of India, New Delhi, Monday, March 7th 2011, screams,
“Women should tolerate violence”
“Nearly one in four Indian men has committed sexual violence at some point in their lives and one in five has admittedly forced his wife or partner to have sex. The findings of a recent International Men and Gender Equality Survey reflect a new low for Indian men. More than 65% Indian men believed that women should tolerate violence to keep the family together, that women sometimes deserved to be beaten.”
What’s good for the goose should be good for the gander too. Both man and woman are part of a family, so why shouldn’t men be beaten up and why shouldn’t they tolerate violence to keep the family together? Why is it that the woman is made a scapegoat and the onus of keeping the family together falls on her strong shoulders?
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“And although Indian men were the most sexually and physically violent at home, they were not involved in violent or criminal behavior outside. Only 4% Indian men had participated in robbery and 7% had been involved in fights with weapons”
Does that make them public heroes, they don’t commit crimes outside of their homes, wow, Just beat the crap out of their wives and children, what model citizens! Men should be rewarded for behaving like decent human beings outside their homes, and what about in the house, where people who love them, live? Here they behave like animals and beat them up mercilessly. If they can control their violent temper outside then they should refrain from violent behavior in the sanctity of their homes too.
Another headline that jumped out of the paper was,
“Men don’t change diapers, says study”
“A six-country gender equality survey has found that 86% of Indian men believe that changing diapers, giving kids a bath and feeding them, is a woman’s job. Almost an equal number don’t participate in household work.”
Aren’t the men related to the children and don’t they live in the same house as the wives and kids? So why can’t they change their own child’s diaper and help in washing the dirty dishes, they too eat in? Same goes for the other household chores.
“Moreover, roughly 80% Indian men say they should have the final word about decisions in the house. This ‘I-am-the-boss attitude’ seemed less prevalent in all other countries.
Be her friend; don’t try to hold her down forcibly. She is more than capable of sharing your burdens and shoulder responsibilities. She is an asset not a liability.She doesn’t ask for much, needs you to back her up and be there for her when she needs a helping hand, like she is always there for you. I am a woman and all I can say is, it doesn’t take much to become worthy of a woman’s love. All she needs is a little tenderness, a little understanding and a whole lot of love. Give her these three things and she will be yours forever and ever. She has an abundance of love and affection in her heart and will shower it all on you only if you care a bit for her feelings. Make her the centre of your universe and she will make you the king of her heart’s kingdom.
Happy International Women’s day to you all.
WOMEN’S DAY• ONE DAY IN A YEAR,
IF,
No man /boy teases a girl going to school or college,
No girl child is made to stay back home to work instead of being sent to school,
No wedding is canceled because of dowry demands,
No woman is beaten up and burnt alive in the name of dowry,
No employer sexually assaults a female employee,
No girl child is married off to an old man for money,
No woman is forced to commit sati,
No girl is sold for prostitution,
No female infanticide is committed,
No mother having more than two daughters is belittled,
No widow is blamed for her husband’s death,
No woman is raped,
Then, maybe then –
That one day can be labeled as women’s day.
International Women’s Day is a farce, eyewash and a blatant attempt by the men of this world to flatter the women and lull them into a false state of security. No singIe day is a woman’s day; it is a man’s world and men are the judge, jury and the executioners.
8th March is no different from any other day for a mother of a teenaged daughter; she worries about her going to school/college even on this great and historical day. A bride is set ablaze irrespective of the date, a rape occurs every day, somewhere in the world. What women’s day are we talking about?
A handful of socialites organize a get together, click some photographs, videotape the event, show it on the news channels and that’s about all there is to 8th March. A few articles about a handful of women who have braved the odds and managed to claw their way to the top, are the icing on the cake of International Women’s Day for you.
Sulekha aka Lucks.I am 18 with 28 years of life experience,out of which 22 years have been spent trying to master Home Engineering. I love reading and writing, and greatly enjoy movies and music.
Sulekha Rawat, along with Kriti Mukherjee writes the blog Chatty Divas and is also part of Socialpotpourri.com
You can read her at www.sulekharawat.com
24 Comments
Shyamala, welcome to Lassi with Lavina and thank you so much for the lovely compliment. Appreciate your comment.
Lucks…absolutely well said…how about showing the men, for once, who’s the better half? so what say…lets get dominant, abusive & violent for a change; show them who’s better at it! Just kidding…but a lovely read, must say! keep the pen rolling!
Juhi, thank you so much for visiting and for your wonderful compliment. Great saying, love it.
Beautiful post Sulekha……… I feel that the thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power – you just take it and never let the hand you hold, hold you down.
Like someone said “Women are the only oppressed group in our society that live in intimate association with their oppressors.
Preetu, Welcome to Lassi with Lavina and me, love your compliments my dear friend, thanks.
Yes…Just one day to glorify women for a Lifetime is a farce. Fantastically penned as always Lucks. Way to go!
Sulekha, thanks for a great post – it certainly seems to have touched a chord with readers.
Sumit, Thank you for your beautiful compliments and loved your touching tribute to the women in your life,The future of women is bright indeed. Thanks.
@Michele, I agree that ‘Every day is “Women’s Day.”’, thanks for visiting and commenting.
@Sukhi,You are right, we have to teach our children about the rights of a woman. We have come a long way but still have far to go. Thanks for reading my post and for your wonderful compliment.
@Swati, yes we will, thanks for the visit and your compliment.
@Rima, thank you, appreciate your lovely compliment.
Thank you Kriti, Alpana and Paul for reading my article and commenting on it. Appreciate your compliments.
Yes Melisa,We have come a long way but still have to do a lot to make a difference in the lives of women. Thanks for your compliment.
Well, a very thought provoking and lovely post. It’s really bad that Indian men think this way. But changes have come, and they can be seen. Things are going to be good in the future. For sure.
Well I personally respect women
My Mother, to whom I owe my life.
My Sister, I owe the care.
And my love, I owe all the love.
Great post. LOVED IT 🙂
Sulekha, thought-provoking and a strong post…as always u write amazingly…
Fantastic post Lucks…Like I say, the hand that rocks the cradle does rule the world. Also here’s to those men who are better than the rest….together we’ll change the world, someday!!
Thank u Sulekha for this article. We cannot think of celebrating Women’s Day until we clean our society of all these crimes that happen in the name of traditions like dowry, girl should remain indoors, always bow down in front of male ego, give a male child to run the family tree and so on. I think we should train our own sons and daughters to put their foot down against all these crimes. I have faith that even one family at a time will make a lot of difference.
As a woman, we shouldn’t be given one day out of the entire year. Every day is “Women’s Day.” Every day that we endure the atrocities you’ve mentioned. Every day that we get paid less than men for the same job. Every day that we must go to work for 8 hours and come home to wash, cook, clean and please our partners. So like you I agree, one day, whoopdeedoo!!
…breezing my way through the office this morning, I overheard my colleague recounting her traffic experience somewhere in “rotonda” yesterday… a familiar name resounded and in the Philippines, GABRIELA, is a well known women’s group which upholds women’s rights…
the day celebrated wasn’t a farce… not at all… i applaud how far women’s rights have revolutionized… and how ‘many’ have gone beyond the boundaries of their cultures and religions allowing the world to see and feel women’s existence side by side with men…
IF is an ideal… as world peace… but YOUR PRESENCE, YOUR WORDS just might create a spark in the hearts of men… and make a difference ;)…
Ti rendiamo grazie O Dio che ci Hai create 🙂
The only property any man or woman owns is their soul, body, and mind. No one has the right to buy, sell, abuse, or take this that does not belong to them. God bless the mothers and women.
Paul, so true. Women make the world go round.
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Thank you, Sulekha, for this beautifully powerful work. For me a positive about this day is that it’s given me pause to consider the profound impact that so many women have had on my life in so many ways, and I am humbled.
Thanks for your insightful comment, Alpana. What was that old rhyme – sticks and stones may break my bones – but words will never hurt me. Better to be a hard boiled egg than a runny, soft one.
Kriti, you make an interesting point about indoors and outdoors – it’s almost opposites – they keep the indoors clean but feel they can abuse women – because they perceive ownership. Of course, we’re talking numbers here – or even stereotypes because many men are totally sane and wonderful.
When a woman is assertive and adamant about what she wants, she’s totally branded a ‘bitch,’ ‘difficult,’ ‘hard to work with,’ or whatever the case may be. You know what? I’ll take it. Call me a bitch, call me whatever, it doesn’t matter. What it all boils down to is when the day is over, I’m still walking away with what it is that I came in there to get.
Sulekha..this is amazing…
Mitr – congratulations on your new post here on Lassi with Lavina and what a way to start : ). You know that part about men being violent only indoors and not outside reminds me of the attitude of spitting once out of the house and never inside. As if the little territory that people have bought and called their homes is the only place that needs to stay clean…. Anyway I digress – I am hopeful that the big “if” in your article will be a reality soon. Till then we should so stop applauding for the farce.