There is an oft-repeated cliche ‘men is to culture, women is to nature’. Even the most rudimentary form of household chore like cooking presumes to be insisting equity gap. If women cook at home, it supposes that nature demands so. Should men do the same, it presumably evokes culture by upholding the essence of chauvinism. Not surprisingly, men do so under the gaze of pomp and gay, for instance chef in 5* hotels. What is so natural about women?
From the wombs to monthly cycles to menopause, women seem to be left in the lurch at the sole mercy of nature. While at one extreme technology seems to rein in women’s drudgery, at the other extreme it exacerbate their existential angst by way of female feticide. Technology cast its monstrous jaw to devour fetal when expectant couples waver, as sex is rampantly determined prior to birth. Laws are put in place, alright, but culture seems to find loopholes to escape with impunity.
The 8th of March is significant primarily for this reason. On the day women across the globe converge to register their protest against scant opportunity to excel. While in relative sense, Angela Markel, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Michelle Bachelet et al, in recent times, has scaled new heights of success, the absolute statistic shows a dismal picture. They are constantly being dragged down the quagmire of absolute depression.
Their miniscule presence in the decision-making processes is a case for concern. Rapid and increased proactive participation in high level, bottom-up multi-tier systems is not only desirable but also inevitable.
Now the moot point – are we blithely patriarchal in our socio-politico-cultural set-ups, I know this discourse necessitates a drawn out discussion and space and doesn’t merit a precis writing. Even so, it’s about time we took a hard look at the way we treat our womenfolk.
I don’t know if we think that women in our society are empowered. My hunch is that we don’t. The tradition of patriarchy has an inveterate cultural presence in our society, long enough to make women comfortably embedded in a system of hegemony. Surely, my dad will not buy my assertion, which runs head-on collision with his oft-repeated remark “numei le chapang” (euphemism for – shut your jack mouth up). Significantly, we need a lesson or two from the western society where children and women are lent all ear, rather than indiscriminately plagiarising and traversing the Mtv maze.
Interestingly, globalisation and technological innovation propels the engine of social change. It now takes snap-of-a-finger to mobilise people across the globe to converge and descend any place in real time. Let alone sloganeering, cyber space was replete with instances of netizens registering their protest during the recent Bush’s visit. Everyone who thinks matters want a say and a piece of the pie. The canvass provided in this new age social space rightly vindicates their claim. In many instances, women are leading from the front.
It is different thing for women to have the guts and grits to venture out alone and altogether different thing to bemoan equity gap. Social equity goes beyond the freedom to do anything and everything. Freedom and opportunity does not necessarily bring about empowerment. Resource mobilisation and capacity building should precede them.
The interrelationship betwixt freedom and opportunity might sound hypothetical assumption but viewed in the light of Govt.’s relatively successful reservation policy, this deduction should hold weight. Whereas reserved seats lay vacant in many Govt. establishments, Women’s Reservation Bill is drag about by politicians like a draw cart in the market place.
Consequently then, there is nothing natural about women. It’s all a social construct. Even otherwise, nature is being manipulated in that western medicines and treatments are capable of reversing early menopause even as evolution has truncated childbearing age. Conclusively, women-culture dichotomy ends here, wherefrom women becomes as much a product of culture, like men, as she is of nature.
Not to sound politically correct, but all that is modern isn’t corrupt and all that is traditional isn’t proper. Time is changing and we need to change with the vicissitude of time. Surely then, treating them with disdain is a no-win situation. While there are ways to go about doing it, to start with, it is imperative to put on record that their courage and struggle are being acknowledged. Let us salute our mothers, sisters and friends who are in the throes of drudgery, and reassure them rather contritely saying ‘for your tomorrow we give our today’.
