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We need to think before we speak. Always. For what we say, can never be erased, and can shape us, our personalities, our destinies.
Language matters, words affect, discourse shapes lives. How often do we think before speaking? Oh, how we love to gossip! And what do we gossip about?
As we get busy with our monotonous adult lives and our minds are filled with meeting the next days’ deadlines, a sudden phone call from a bestie or a coffee date with a college oldie brings back the twinkle in our tired eyes. It is lovely to catch up with friends. It infuses us with energy and gives us a chance to relive the old days once again. We want to utilize whatever little time we have to know all the latest news and events taking place in each other’s lives and as soon as we have poured out our hearts to each other, we tend to shift to the long lost names from school or college days.
Clearing the cob webs that have settled in our minds we try to remember that girl who always roamed around with boys, or that one who dated a new guy every other month, or the one whose dressing sense made heads turn, oh and how can we forget the one who got married too soon! Our conversations are often animated and full of all the adjectives that one may not otherwise think right to describe a person.
We tend to think that: it’s all fine as long as we are only ‘gossiping’ with our best friend, it is not going to harm anyone, we don’t talk like this when we are with other people, we know that it is not appropriate to talk in such a manner, but sure, we can take a break as it is only our best friend with whom we are sharing stuff.
Unknowingly, unintentionally and more often than not deliberately, we are shaping the language every time we open our mouths to speak. Every word, every phrase that comes out is not only indicative of our own hypocrisy but also adds to the ever growing pool of insensitive expressions that are used to describe women in this world.
Yes, we are the open-minded young voices who respect each and every person’s life choices and decisions, yet falling into the trap of such ‘gossip’ we are losing our stand. Each and every word that is once spoken or written or printed hangs out in the air, it is not dissolved, and it does not get thrown in trash bins. It shapes our language. Word by word, phrase by phrase, the language that we use to give shape to our thoughts is being constructed.
The onus is on us and us alone. As and when we start exercising care and caution before letting the words leave our mind, we would be successful in our collective struggle for the respect and dignity that has been denied to the women for so long.
Image source: what we say by Shutterstock.
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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.
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