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Why do we accept anything and everything from men, while expecting such high standards from women all the time? Why do we have different bars of acceptable behaviour?
The moment a woman slaps someone, or throws her old in-laws out of home, it becomes trending news. The trolls begin on pseudo-feminism, justice, modern evil, non-sanskari females, etc.
But when it is other way round, it takes a 5-year-old to be brutally raped, or a woman gang raped in a moving bus with such gory details, that you may end up puking your guts out. Only after this scale of 9/10 is scaled, such news where men are perpetrators, becomes trending.
A man slapping, breaking bones of a woman, whistling at her publicly, or groping her breasts is kind of ‘accepted’. In fact, it is even normalized through punchlines like ‘boys will be boys,’ and ‘Akeli ladki Khuli tijori.’
Why can’t we have same bar for everyone? Why can’t we show same frustration and outburst when anyone irrespective of their gender shows their rage in an unjustified manner?
Act of one person (read female) is used as a stick to beat up many more women who had taken a lifetime of courage to take one step towards equality and freedom.
A woman is not supposed to err, she is supposed to be revered, and conscious of her reverence. And the moment she strays from this set path, she is used as an example, rather justification, to silence the other voices.
Take for example the case where a girl was killed for wearing jeans by her family. Do you think this all happened overnight? No, this is all because of that rotten mindset that is displayed in the name of so-called chivalry and cultural heritage on the social media through trolls, and sexiest comments about women – even a Minister has the audacity to share his undemocratic sentiments when he laments how the sight of a woman in ripped jeans troubled him.
We have set different bars for crimes depending upon what is the gender of the criminal? We don’t hate the crime; we hate who has committed it. What we forget is that a crime is a crime.
Image source: a still from the film Ishqzaade
Vartika Sharma Lekhak is a published author based in India who enjoys writing on social issues, travel tales and short stories. She is an alumnus of JNU and currently studying law at Symbiosis Law School, read more...
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
It is shameful that in today's world too, women are abused and even killed for giving birth to a girl, and the infant's life is also of no value.
Trigger Warning: This deals with domestic violence, suicide, and violence against women, and may be triggering to survivors.
I am so glad that the esteemed courts are now giving the much-required verdicts regarding certain ideologies that were not at all entertained earlier. I mean we all have studied this much biology at our school level and it is our duty (our generation) to educate our elders about it.
Why someone have to lose a life to bring such awareness to the society. Delhi High Court gave this judgement concerning a case that filed by the deceased daughter’s parents against her in-laws. She committed suicide as she was harassed and tortured for dowry and giving birth to two daughters.
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