Check out the ultimate guide to 16 return-to-work programs in India for women
Actress Malvi Malhotra was stabbed for refusing a marriage proposal. Even in 2020, why do men still think it's a crime to say no to them?
Actress Malvi Malhotra was stabbed for refusing a marriage proposal. Even in 2020, why do men still think it’s a crime to say no to them?
According to a report in India Today, actress Malvi Malhotra was stabbed by a man she refused to marry. The actress was returning from a coffee shop on Monday night when the man, Yogesh Mahipal Singh approached her. When she refused to talk to him, he stabbed her thrice.
The report further stated that Malvi and Singh, who is said to be a film producer, were Facebook friends. He had allegedly asked her to marry him and she had refused the proposal.
This, however, isn’t the first time a woman has been attacked for refusing a romantic proposal from a man. Incidents like these aren’t uncommon but each time, they compel us to think about the status of women in our country.
It is time we realise women are individuals and not anyone’s ‘property’ to be owned. They are individuals who can make their own choices, and lead lives according to their own standards.
Women aren’t obliged to bow and accept everything a man says. However, when she rejects someone or says, ‘No,’ why is the man’s immediate response to harm her? Does harming her satisfy the man’s fragile masculine ego?
We often believe women are supposed to say yes to anything we ask or expect from her. They are expected to be obedient daughters, submissive mothers and docile partners. In our society, men have never been taught to take a ‘no’ as an answer. Thus, rejection from a woman always bruises a man’s esteem because they’ve always considered women as inferior to them.
From acid attacks to murder attempts, men have resorted to violence to prove their masculinity and avenge their bruised egos. Apprehensive of these attacks and incidents, women are taught to justify their responses. Women use various phrases like “Because…” “Maybe…” “I think not…” to always justify their choices. If they don’t, they could be the next victim of these hideous crimes.
It is high time we as a society realise that “no” is a complete answer that doesn’t need any support to make it justifiable and complete. But it is also time men understood that rejection from a woman isn’t an attack on their egos or self-esteem.
A woman is entitled to life as much as any man. She is entitled to live a life where she can navigate it herself while making her own choices. Why does the society expect her to be docile and abiding all the time?
Is a woman obliged to obey everything a man says and abide by whatever he wishes of her? From education, career choices and even relationships, a woman can always practice her own free will. She is not obliged to reciprocate favourably in all cases. Consent goes both ways and forced consent or avenging is definitely NOT the answer.
Picture credits: Image from Malvi Malhotra’s Instagram
Anamika is an English literature student with a strong inclination towards feminist literature, feminist literary criticism and women's history. read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
As he stood in front of his door, Nishant prayed that his wife would be in a better mood. The baby thing was tearing them apart. When was the last time he had seen his wife smile?
Veena got into the lift. It was a festival day, and the space was crammed with little children dressed in bright yellow clothes, wearing fancy peacock feather crowns, and carrying flutes. Janmashtami gave her the jitters. She kept her face down, refusing to socialize with anyone.
They had moved to this new apartment three months ago. The whole point of shifting had been to get away from the ruthless questioning by ‘well-wishers’.
“You have been married for ten years! Why no child yet?”
I huffed, puffed and panted up the hill, taking many rest breaks along the way. My calf muscles pained, my heart protested, and my breathing became heavy at one stage.
“Let’s turn back,” my husband remarked. We stood at the foot of Shravanbelagola – one of the most revered Jain pilgrimage centres. “We will not climb the hill,” he continued.
My husband and I were vacationing in Karnataka. It was the month of May, and even at the early hour of 8 am in the morning, the sun scorched our backs. After visiting Bangalore and Mysore, we had made a planned stop at this holy site in the Southern part of the state en route to Hosur. Even while planning our vacation, my husband was very excited at the prospect of visiting this place and the 18 m high statue of Lord Gometeshwara, considered one of the world’s tallest free-standing monolithic statues.
What we hadn’t bargained for was there would be 1001 granite steps that needed to be climbed to have a close-up view of this colossal magic three thousand feet above sea level on a hilltop. It would be an understatement to term it as an arduous climb.
Please enter your email address