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As a cis het woman I was pleasantly surprised to relate to lives of women of diverse sexualities and gender identities as I read their experiences; so mustn't I fight for all women?
As a cis het woman I was pleasantly surprised to relate to lives of women of diverse sexualities and gender identities as I read their experiences; so mustn’t I fight for all women?
The Rainbow flag aka the Pride flag is representative of the various diverse sections and sexualities under the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.
The original flag, designed by Gilbert Baker had eight stripes. Today’s version has six colours, but there are many other variations and versions that are popular.
When I first read Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars, I was surprised by how relatable the story of a lesbian was to a cishet person like me. That was the first time I began to realize that their struggles against oppression weren’t alien to even women like me.
Then I read Vivek Tejuja’s So Now You Know: Growing Up Gay in India and found it another relatable read. All the experiences that he talks about like wanting to find that special someone or parents not being empathetic enough, or extended family not taking you seriously because you don’t have the same interests as them is something that’s not specific to only one gender or sexuality.
There has always been a gnawing thought in my mind: As someone who truly believes in equality for all, I’ve not really done enough for using my voice for the LGBTQIA community. And this thought always bothered me.
After reading Can We All Be Feminists?, the urge to be more vocal about intersectional feminism became stronger.
If I wasn’t using my privilege, voice, and position to fight for ALL women, what kind of feminist even was I?
And while I don’t have the lived experience to be able to write on intersectionality (also because I am still myself learning about it), I realized I can use my art to spread awareness about it instead.
A lot of times, I’ve heard people say that movements like Pride Parades or Black Lives Matter are divisive to the mainstream feminist movement. That it distracts from the main fight, and proves to dilute the voices.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. After reading books like Can We All Be Feminists? I am convinced that the burden of being inclusive shouldn’t fall on the marginalised. It should be the responsibility of the majority, privileged, to make space for them, empower them, and use our voices to make theirs stronger (without hogging that time and space for ourselves).
In the newer variations of the Rainbow flag, black is representative of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. And I’m glad that there are enough solid black lines in this mandala to stand for that too.
For me, the white spaces in this mandala are a representation of the cohesiveness and inclusivity that we as a society should strive for.
It stands for a dream that one day all communities will exist peacefully and in harmony with each other.
It stands as a rejection of the idea that all these movements undermine mainstream feminism.
It is an endorsement of the sentiment that is the underlying theme of the book Can We All Be Feminists, that if we’re not fighting for the equality of ALL women, what kind of feminists even are we?
It is a hope that someday we won’t need a single month in a year dedicated to celebrate diverse sexualities and gender equality but will do it all year round, each day, every day.
Happy Pride Month, everyone.
Image source: Divya Agrawal on Unsplash
Piyusha Vir is a writer, artist, a CELTA-certified English Language trainer, and a Creative Writing Coach. She was awarded the Top 5 position in the Orange Flower Awards 2018 for the category of Writing 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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