Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Thank you, gentlemen!

Shakti is mythological representation of woman. Shakti also means strength. Women have always been strong, resilient, nurturers, influencers, change agents so on and so forth.  My mother (she would be 84 if she was alive) who was financially completely dependent on my father (and before him, her father) was a strong woman.  She knew her roles and responsibilities well but she also ensured the rest of us took ours seriously.  She was fun but she couldn’t be fooled around with.  She was epitome of kindness but also a force to reckon with. My father, who appeared patriarchal went to her for opinion and advise regularly.  If you looked at them, you would never have guessed that. My point is, women have always been the significant half in their homes and in a way in this world too.

What we (women) want today though is to make this significance more obvious, to gain more freedom, voice and in some cases to be wearing pants.  The way we dress, talk, carry ourselves and assert our rights (rightly so) have changed and changed significantly.  Feminism is the new buzzword.  This metamorphosis is exhilarating and beautiful for us – we look at ourselves in the mirror swelling with pride, the glorious butterflies that we turned into.

For a man though, this is too much too soon.  Alpha women are all too ambitious bordering on aggression; they have their money, jobs, travel and social life (that doesn’t always include her man).  If I were a man, I will suck at coping with this change and its pace.  I see my man and many men around me not just coping with it, but encouraging and facilitating this change.  And you need that man, to love you, cheer you and celebrate your success. As someone beautifully put it, “Feminism is not biological; it is an ideology”. If it took a Katherine to fight gender and race issues, it also needed a Harrison to give her a hand (watch Hidden Figures).

While we haven’t conquered larger issues - sexual harassment, archaic patriarchal norms, female foeticide and such, today let’s focus on men who value and respect women. Today let’s celebrate womanhood and men who make this journey of evolution beautiful.

Here’s to you guys who adopt our madness with gusto!

3 comments:

RAHUL AITHAL said...

Awesome write. So true.

Monik said...

A though provoking write .. however, I would love to think about angle to this whole problem. Sometimes the biggest enemy of women is sometimes women itself. Can a mother in law take an aggressive daughter in law who wishes to work late, party and be an equal to her son? Can a sister in law take a aggressive lady, who probably out does her brother?. Can a lady who hires a maid, give her maid a day off on womens day?

The key to all this... Women dont need to be accepted as equal... They are more than equal. They achieve greatness or superiority the day they are born with the right to create life. We men even if want to cant ensure the growth of society, even if want to merely by this limitation. Women are born superior because they can give life a meaning. So celebrate that power.

Smi said...

Love this ❤. Cheers to the men in our life !