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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.
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.
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.
Image Credit: Pexels from Pixabay
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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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