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In India, the word Mardaangi is an emotion of being the better gender. Mardaangi is being too superior to do anything that a woman is expected to do.
Manhood. According to the Oxford Dictionary, ‘manhood is the state or time of an adult man rather than a child (boy)’ However, in India, the definition of manhood is totally different.
In India, Mardaangi is an emotion of being the better gender. Mardaangi is being too superior to do anything that a woman is expected to do. It is being the ‘knight in shining armour’ for a ‘damsel in distress,’ and not her partner.
‘Main mard hoon, I can’t stay at home while my wife goes to work! I’m not supposed to take care of my child. But I’m supposed to earn that money and be the protector and caretaker of my family!’
Okay. Not to sound so archaic, but, I think, deep inside the mind of every modern Indian man, there could be thoughts similar to this one. If he doesn’t have them, congratulations, he’s a feminist! (don’t worry, that’s a good thing)
We know that men are prejudiced to be the ones to bring home the bread, to take care of their families, and to protect their loved ones. Let’s emphasise on prejudice.
So, if this is a prejudice, what is the ideal situation? How would a society where men aren’t pressured into doing this, and women aren’t expected to be the perfect wife look like? What is the scenario where staying at home doesn’t hurt men’s ego, and women are just fellow humans?
A society where men and women are equal. Where they don’t have to go to work or stay at home because of their gender, but because they choose to. A society where decisions are made based on rational thinking, not because of gender difference.
The truth is that there are some societies that are, ideally, gender-equal. But how many are there? How many men are there that don’t put their gender first? Not enough.
Gender equality is not a luxury, it is a basic ethic. Differentiation on the basis of gender is immoral, and it must be stopped by every human on the planet.
Being a man should be equal to being a human. Actually, being a woman should be equal to being a human too. We are equal. There’s no difference in our capabilities, and we shouldn’t formulate any.
Don’t be a mard. Be human.
Picture credits: Still from Bollywood movie Kabir Singh
Paakhi is a nineteen-year-old published author, blogger, and the founder of "An Insipid Board of Ideas", a storytelling NPO. Amidst the hustle of teenage life, she confides in writing and math; both of read more...
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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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