The title of the blog is from a sentence taken from this video which delivers another tight slap on the world's, especially India's patriarchal culture. I really don't know how many slaps like this our society needs to wake up and realize that our culture is outdated and we need to change. Actually, it would be unfair to blame only India for having a patriarchal society or culture, it is prevalent more or less in all parts of the world, but I am going to discuss this only about Indian society as I come from that society and can comment about it based on my personal experience. In ancient times when the development in science was not much, most jobs or even day-to-day tasks used to require a lot of physical stamina and power men became superior in every society due to their physical strength compared to women. This superior physical strength gave them a natural advantage and dominance, they seized this advantage and made all rules and traditions which heavily suited them. Patriarchy is dominant in all cultures and religions. This natural advantage allowed men to design society as per their own needs and slowly role of women was reduced to support them, satisfy their needs, and help in reproduction. This system continued for many many years until we saw the emergence of feminist movements where women started demanding fair and equal treatment. For many cultures this demand for equality was a shocker, they couldn't believe that women could demand something like this, and this is why feminists are still targeted all over the world, to protect patriarchy.
Some people might ask the question, what is wrong with patriarchal ideology? Why do we want to change this ancient culture? Patriarchy has been going on for years and society survived with those values and customs so why do we need to change? Actually, even today many people want to preserve or continue with these types of traditions in the name of culture or religion, they defend them because this thing was invented by their great-forefathers. They believe that as their forefathers were very farsighted and intelligent so how can anything practised by them be bad? Somehow they fail to see that these practices are discriminatory and biased in nature, most of these traditions favor men and put women and other genders at the receiving end with unequal rights. Just because something is old is not a good reason to discard anything, one has to evaluate and test before making any decision. If the system is old, seriously malfunctioning, and harmful to certain sections of society then definitely we need to discard it. A system that treats nearly half of our population as secondary citizens definitely needs to go, no matter how old it is.
This patriarchal culture is directly or indirectly responsible for many traditions or rules that are biased against women. These types of rules are present in every culture and religion. Their influence is so strong that not only men but many women also defend them and oppose any reforms. Because of years of suppression, women are brainwashed to believe that they are the weaker sex and need the presence of men in their lives for protection and survival in our society. This all needs to change, but this change is not easy, as even many women believe that by nature they are inferior to men and they have to be dependent on men for social recognition. It will take a lot of awareness to change this mentality, challenging any age-old belief is not an easy task. Consistent efforts from feminist groups and more participation of women are necessary to make this possible. As long as women don't help themselves no amount of external help will be enough to elevate their status in society. the fight for equality is not easy and equality comes at a cost and women need to be ready for that. Women need to prepare themselves to bear this cost and carry the burden of responsibility that comes along with this, if not, then patriarchy is here to stay forever. If women are not willing to take control of their own lives, men will keep their control of almost every aspect of their lives, this is what patriarchy is. Patriarchy is as strong as organized religion, and it is an integral part of every religion. During the past few decades, feminist movements have made a big dent in it due to their consistent efforts but still lot needs to be done. I am glad to see that many women are coming forward now to challenge patriarchy, this is a good sign. Patriarchy might be one of the oldest surviving ideologies but the time has come for it to go. Just imagine lifting barriers from the minds of half of the world's population, imagine lifting the burden of '"being a man" from the minds of other half of the world's population. People will be free from social pressure to fit into stereotypes associated with their gender. If this happens it will be one of the greatest events in the history of human civilization. With our consistent efforts I am sure this will happen, so let's keep trying.
Some people might ask the question, what is wrong with patriarchal ideology? Why do we want to change this ancient culture? Patriarchy has been going on for years and society survived with those values and customs so why do we need to change? Actually, even today many people want to preserve or continue with these types of traditions in the name of culture or religion, they defend them because this thing was invented by their great-forefathers. They believe that as their forefathers were very farsighted and intelligent so how can anything practised by them be bad? Somehow they fail to see that these practices are discriminatory and biased in nature, most of these traditions favor men and put women and other genders at the receiving end with unequal rights. Just because something is old is not a good reason to discard anything, one has to evaluate and test before making any decision. If the system is old, seriously malfunctioning, and harmful to certain sections of society then definitely we need to discard it. A system that treats nearly half of our population as secondary citizens definitely needs to go, no matter how old it is.
This patriarchal culture is directly or indirectly responsible for many traditions or rules that are biased against women. These types of rules are present in every culture and religion. Their influence is so strong that not only men but many women also defend them and oppose any reforms. Because of years of suppression, women are brainwashed to believe that they are the weaker sex and need the presence of men in their lives for protection and survival in our society. This all needs to change, but this change is not easy, as even many women believe that by nature they are inferior to men and they have to be dependent on men for social recognition. It will take a lot of awareness to change this mentality, challenging any age-old belief is not an easy task. Consistent efforts from feminist groups and more participation of women are necessary to make this possible. As long as women don't help themselves no amount of external help will be enough to elevate their status in society. the fight for equality is not easy and equality comes at a cost and women need to be ready for that. Women need to prepare themselves to bear this cost and carry the burden of responsibility that comes along with this, if not, then patriarchy is here to stay forever. If women are not willing to take control of their own lives, men will keep their control of almost every aspect of their lives, this is what patriarchy is. Patriarchy is as strong as organized religion, and it is an integral part of every religion. During the past few decades, feminist movements have made a big dent in it due to their consistent efforts but still lot needs to be done. I am glad to see that many women are coming forward now to challenge patriarchy, this is a good sign. Patriarchy might be one of the oldest surviving ideologies but the time has come for it to go. Just imagine lifting barriers from the minds of half of the world's population, imagine lifting the burden of '"being a man" from the minds of other half of the world's population. People will be free from social pressure to fit into stereotypes associated with their gender. If this happens it will be one of the greatest events in the history of human civilization. With our consistent efforts I am sure this will happen, so let's keep trying.
Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.
[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]
Links:
1. A Group Of Women Speaks Up To Send A Very Powerful Message To The Indian Male Dominated Society
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