Kimono: A Woman’s Literary Garment

My thoughts and my will have had an on-and-off relationship for quite some time now. Despite the chaos of emotions in my head, I have not been able to muster up the courage to write it. Also, I just figured out that I might be using the word chaos too much, maybe because it’s the only apprehensible word that truly identifies with my situation most of the time.

It’s not just me. It’s the story of every female writer who likes to live in the chaotic aesthetics of the 60s; a lavender-smelling boudoir, an ebony table with the space occupied by classic literature, a quill gifted by some great-grandmother, and a seal. There is, however, a favourite garment that a woman would like to wear before going to her fantasy abode – a Kimono. Now, why is this scenario so feminine? Here’s why.

How is femininity seen through “the kimono”?

Over the period since literature flourished, writers have had many creative ideas on how to depict the life of the women of their century. They found femininity fascinating. Female writers, however, beg to differ.

For instance, if Charlotte Bronte would have written “The Scarlet Letter”, Hester would have been a businesswoman in that period of seven years, or she might have fled with her daughter and started afresh. But she didn’t because Nathaniel saw through Hester, the image of a woman, kind and compassionate. He tried to see the beauty and aura of feminine nature- ‘The Kimono’ (It is a literary garment that a writer needs to wear before officially introducing a woman as a protagonist).

So, do we need to put on our Kimonos before writing chastity? The idea of a woman being modest and divine is subjective. There is no plausible explanation as to why female writers have only two types of stories left to tell – one of a rebellious spinster and the other of Mariam. Both lost their chastity, one by choice and the other by force.

Writing the real woman through emotions

The concept of prioritizing emotions is so bizarre among this range of females that they have long forgotten what they desired and are now focusing on what is best for them. Considering society to be utopian, they leave their imaginations to float under the moonlight. They silently weave stories of life in a mansion, with Da Vinci on the walls and Cervantes on the bookshelves. They wish to be a part of a sorority or a literary club of some kind, where they can let the words flow out, engage in heated discussions, and then laugh it all off at the dinner table.

How good does it feel to be alive? And then, the daybreak brings back the new responsibilities of a new day that they did not sign up for. The Kimonos are left behind in the boudoir.

Women push away the foundations of their emotions which they were born with and forcefully adopt the deceptive ‘Kimonos’. We are not looking for typical traits that make up the woman of our imagination. We are looking for the woman who is lost under the pressure of society and is rivaling against social stigmas; but has still not lost the woman inside her, the one she was born with.

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Image Credit: Pexels from Pixabay

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