Bhoom! There it goes...

This week we celebrate Navaratri, The victory of Goddess Durga, we venerate her powerful avatars, in short, the celebration of womanhood. Yet, the goddesses in our country seem to be in an endless battle against patriarchy. Starting from career options to choosing the clothes we wear.

A recent Malayalam movie 'Varathan' outlines the miseries of being a girl who has opinions. When did being a girl become a crime? Who gave the authority to do whatever their heart desires to men?

The other day Amma told me that this place was never gonna change as long as women believed that men had the right to do whatever they want and they can't be changed and we should adjust to that behavior. To most of them, this might sound like the best option but what if I told you this.

I like hitting people with hammers and really good at it and every night I would go on a hammer-hitting spree, you should stay at homes and be safe because you can't change me, you are supposed to adjust to me. (This is just a hypothetical situation, please do not send search parties and police)

That sounded insane right! Exactly my point. When we all belong to the same species, why should a particular gender be inferior to the other? 

Staring and raping with the eyes is a real thing. I walk to church on Sundays alone. In an Indian city, this is something like walking through fire. So the defense move I made, very stupid, I try to dress like a much older person, style my hair into something even Amma considers outdated. Wear a saree so that anybody road might consider me old. (But I do love sarees to another whole level - That is a story for another day!) All this on my short walk so that nobody might catcall me or stare at me and suck my blood. The other day I and my friend were walking down the street, when she suddenly asked why didn't you dress up in a suit or a saree, at least people would have thought you were my mom and chose not to stare at us. 

Shouldn't we cage those uncivilized and filthy people who do not let the members of their own species live in peace?

Since we are not in a Barbie world, you can't expect us to dress up like barbies all the time, we too value our comfort. Why set up rules on how we should dress when we are not your dolls and do as you may please?

But the silver lining is that people are changing, with campaigns like #metoo and other social awareness programmes we are able to reach the oppressed. And I do not say this just for women. Men too have been oppressed, harassed and assaulted. It is #timesup for every predator irrespective of their gender. 

The string of memes against #metoo was saddening, even after being the state with 100% literacy, #metoo was received with a lot of hatred and slut-shaming.

Cartoonist and Caricature artist Vishnu Madhav recently uploaded a great piece of work on his Instagram handle.

Do follow this artist, he is amazing! @pencilashan

The Sabarimala verdict too was a mammoth move towards granting the citizen the right to practice and profess their religion. I repeat, CITIZEN. When did Gods start to discriminate between men and women? The next mammoth decision I'm waiting to see is women as Priestesses in churches.

There was a time when I was afraid to admit that I'm a Feminist because they would mistake me for the pseudo-feminists and hypocrites out there knowing nothing close to what the word means. Feminism never meant oppressing men and men can be feminists too and I must say should be. It is advocating for equal opportunities and equal rights and never means "same". Equal and same are two different words. Physically women are not made strong to lift heavy weights though there may be some exceptions. Feminism doesn't mean I have to carry those huge suitcases and boxes, but if at all I want to, you got to let me do it. 

Fishing is a tough job, you may say most women may not be able to handle the rough seas and voyages but you got to let them try because if you didn't we wouldn't have KC Rekha - The first licensed fisherwomen in the country hailing from Thrissur, Kerala. We wouldn't have Indira Gandhi or Kalpana Chawla or Manushi Chillar or Sushmita Sen if you told them they belonged to the kitchen. Many women may actually be able to do it, just let them do it. Leave the gender, consider them a fellow human.

{ By the way, everybody belongs to the kitchen, that is where food is and food is love♥️♥️♥️ }

Now, this does not mean you force every woman you see to work and do great things. Some of them just dream to be a good homemaker, raise kids and look after the family. It is their choice. Give them the choice. That's all that Feminism means.

Oh, and the stereotypes, let us dive into it, Baby!

In Kerala, Feminism is associated with angry women, yelling and screaming, wearing black and have curly hair and mostly flaunts a huge nosepin and is against marriage. With the media relentlessly portraying them as witches and evil, Ammama (Grandma) is afraid that I might turn into one of them and ruin the family's honor. Me having curly hair is not gonna destroy our family honor Ammama, it is the belief that I am supposed to go by certain rules that were set ages ago for our gender, which is gonna destroy me. And if I say I don't want to marry now, it is because it is nowhere in my priorities now and not because I hate men or do not believe in marriage.

Here is a beautiful well-written article on FORBES which I want all of you to read.

Your jump to knowledge

I could go on and on, but I don't see the point. When you are so stubborn that you want us to stay in the kitchen and give up on our dreams, all I would have to say is, we are gonna silently bear all this...after we hit some sense into your heads and put you in cages and open an exhibition. 

So won't you help me look for a great place to have this exhibition?