• A teenager expresses her views on the contradiction where Shakti is worshipped but women are not feeling safe and allowed to realize potential.  

My first article was A Teenager`s pain and fear post R G Kar Hospital Rape Case.

India is perhaps the only country in the world where God is Worshipped as Mother , has produced so many Women Warriors . “Swami Vivekananda points out a source in an old Vedic hymn to the Goddess: “I am the light. I am the light of the sun and moon; I am the air which animates all beings.”” YET

Women globally are exposed to patriarchy in one form or another. It may be blatant in many parts of the world as in our own country India or perhaps it exists in subtle, almost unnoticeable forms. From depriving women education to putting restraints on them due to questions over their safety, women all over the world still face patriarchy and its consequences. Nevertheless most Indian women, not all, have equal inheritance rights.

Just to put matters in perspective, “The British Parliament granted franchise to its women in 1918.” The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920 gave U.S. women the right to vote.  Source  “Thousands of people protested sexual violence across France this past weekend, as two high-profile cases rock the country.” Source

If the dicey topic of oppression of women in our own nation is explored with respect to Hinduism and Hindus in particular, then one may be allowed to say that our society is one with double standards and hypocritical behaviour when it comes to the treatment of women.

On one hand, there exists a façade of respect and empowerment of women as we worship them as goddesses and pray to them for strength and courage. Then paradoxically we expose them to the cruellest forms of torture and the most heinous of crimes. 

Not only the body but also the mind of a woman is not left untouched by this evil force that has been created by generations and generations of people not just in India, but globally too.

Maratha Queens L to R Yesubai, Tarabai, Laxmibai, Ahilyabai Holkar.

Here people limit their concern for women and their liberty only to goddesses. In practice, a woman is viewed as a burden and not as a symbol of strength. She is viewed only as a liability and is barely even considered a human being. Many may argue that women are not in-fact goddesses, the same way men are not gods and so there is no such reason to treat them as such.

Women Gurus in Hinduism.

But according to our religion, divinity lies in each and every one of us and in every living creature. In which case how can we really pray or worship God when we ourselves oppress women.

How can we ever truly be respecting a goddess when parts of her are being denied the right to live? 

A woman’s very soul is marred and tainted by patriarchy. Her body, her character, her very being is put under scrutiny. She is constrained in every manner possible and if she tries to escape, she is abandoned by society. It is always her fault when a man is involved. 

Although it is true that men and men and women are biologically different with perhaps women being at a biological disadvantage, they are the same at their very core.

Both men and women can rise to equal greatness and goodness if given the same opportunity. Women have been conditioned to believe in the superiority of men for generations and so such thought reflects in their actions, ideals and treatment of other women too.

Some may even say that due to this biological disadvantage, nature has created men and women to fulfil different roles and although his might be true to a certain extent, it does not mean that this is a justifiable excuse to label women as intellectually inferior to men or unfit to do the same work as men.

Our society requires immediate change and education if we want to liberate our women and see them flourish. We must condition our society to be one where people are willing to see liberated and flourishing women and make it one where there is not so much fear in the women’s minds and that of their families regarding their safety.

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Aadrika Chattopadhyay studies in class X school at a school in West Bengal. She has published seven non- fiction articles in Prabuddha Bharata which is the longest running English journal in India published by the Ramakrishna Mission and Math.

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