When I slipped into a contemplative phase as I was poring through a particularly boring chapter in my Business Studies textbook, I just realized that woman are still subjected to injustice, much as the world claims to have taken a step towards gender equity. Gender discrimination still prevails. Women still continue to remain preys of the society, victims of brute and slaves of man.
Even after the society has become 'modernized' in action and ethics, certain orthodox beliefs still continue, pushing women into a soft cocoon, shielding herself from the harshness that engulfs the rest of the world.
Women have been subjected to the most cruel injustices, right from when man became civilised. Starting from Sati, female infanticide, rape, deprivation of education, donning corsets to achieve an unrealistic figure (that constricted the breathing, cut off blood circulation and resulted in the death of many) to the abuse that still continues to persist in rural pockets of India, women have been tormented.
Even today, a man with several girlfriends is referred to as a 'charming playboy', whilst a woman who as much as dates two different men, would be a labelled a 'slut'.
It is acceptable for men to drown their sorrows in alcohol.
If a woman did that, she would be taunted and considered 'unethical and immoral'.
A man is allowed to eat to his hearts' content.
A woman has to always watch her figure. If she as much as succumbs to the occassional craving and happens to gain a pound or two, the society immediately comments on how 'fat' she has become.
Men are allowed to go in for the grunge and looked incorrigible, but will still be considered sexy.
A woman can never have unwaxed legs, lest she be looked upon as a hairy ape.
Men can be as repulsive as they want.
Women have got to appear demure and docile.
Men are judged by their intellect.
A woman is rarely judged by her intellect. She's first viewed as a sex-symbol, a toy in the hands of man. Intellect is secondary.
Men get away with a pitiable facade.
The woman is always the scapegoat.
Men have only their jobs to handle.
Women have to not only juggle their career and work, but also whip up a delicious meal, do all the household chores, manage the house, take care of the brat of the kids, and emerge looking like a million dollars at the end of it all.
In rural areas, women toil hard as labourers and servants, whilst their unemployed husbands squander her hard-earned money on liquor and prostitutes, and then abuse her if she as much as utters a word.
You see, this injustice will always continue, as long as women allow themselves to be victims of the society. Gender equity will never be completely achieved--at least not for another century or two.
But then again, who am I to speak of justice? There is not an element of justice in this world that is torn by strife, and there probably never will be. If there was justice, there wouldn't be a thick line between the rich and the poor, the fit and the handicapped, the fortunate and the destitute. While one half of the population live in marble mansions and eat elaborate four-course meals, the other half is in penury, with hardly a morsel of food to eat.
We just have to accept it. Justice is not something that can ever be accomplished. And I realized it, probably a tad too late.
