Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
Being educated is no deterrent to holding misogynist opinions, as these two interactions reveal.
In our society, intolerance is prominent and scary. What is even more terrifying is having to hear such nonsensical opinions from educated people.
I was talking to two classmates while having lunch in a restaurant. Conversation went somewhat this way :
X: Abortion is a sin.
Y: Oh yes, its terrible.
Me: Abortion is a sin?
X: Yes, of course. You are killing a human being here.
Me : Shouldn’t we leave that to the parents? What if they are not ready for a baby yet?
X: Then what’s point in having the child in the first place? They should simply avoid doing immoral stuff.
Me: Well, if they are consenting adults, then who are we to judge?
X: We can because it’s against out culture. One can be in a relationship but should not be involved in indecent things.
Me: Well, for some people, being in a relationship is counted as ‘indecent things’. So are you going to change yourself to comfort them?
X : *smiles*
Me : You can choose to refrain from things that you don’t like. But you can’t judge or force someone to follow your way. It’s like, just because you don’t like the colour “blue”, you criticize anyone wearing a blue shirt.
The conversation didn’t end there, where he merely repeated the same thing over and over. He is one of those guys in my college who always dresses fashionably with western clothes and shows off his gadgets, which again are invented by foreign people. So lecturers about tradition from him was really unbearable. But there was more.
*** *** *** *** ***
Another conversation with the same person went like this:
Me : It’s really nice to see girls in sports.
X : Yes. They are always fit.
Me : Of course. They have to practice a lot for hours.
X : Yes, but they are not really desirable.
Me : Why’s that?
X : In our society, men desire to marry women who have soft bodies. While practicing, their body hardens. Hence they have a hard time finding husbands.
I literally didn’t know how to respond.
What has been your experience with finding misogyny in places where you thought it wouldn’t exist? Share!
First published at the author’s blog
Breaking sexism image via Shutterstock
Free thinker, Feminist, Dancer, On-your-face blunt, Sarcastic, Avid Reader. Engineering student by education with a passion for technology. read more...
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
Please enter your email address