Women are humans

#BeBoldForChange is what the International Women’s Day 2017 is asking us to be. Calling on us to take a stand and work towards a better future that is not only more inclusive, but more equal and prosperous.
So, while the world is working towards adding more women to the executive boards to accelerate gender diversity, and urging more and more women to join STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, is seeking reproductive rights for women, sending more and more girls to school, fighting against female genital mutilation, and explaining consent and that a no means no - teaching men not to rape, our society is still concerned about how to marry off girls to men who will ensure the women never work for wages and spend their life rearing their in laws offspring as well as their own.
These women are being forced into unpaid labour by their own parents who think a woman’s place is in the kitchen and her life must revolve around some lazy men who cannot be taught to cook, clean, make their own bed, and take care of children. (Sometimes I wonder if they expect us to be grateful that South Asian men wash their own piss and poo). These women will end with no say of their own in matters of finance, health, housing, employment, and even child rearing.

For all the sacrifices these South Asian women will make, they will be given a lollipop in the form of “the door to heaven lies beneath the feet of a mother”, ensuring that even if they do not want to, they pop out a baby. They will be told to forget about all their dreams and aspirations of doing something more productive, and will be cajoled into taking the “natural course” of reproduction.
How many of these women will take a stand? How many of such parents who force their daughters into drudgery are around us? And how many of us will take a step to put a poke in the wheels and help the women who are being forced by their own parents into drudgery? How many of our friends will be sure of support from the community in case they runaway or divorce their abusive husbands?

Will we believe her if she said her own father abused her and her mother was an aide? Will we stand by the woman who left her husband because he raped her on the wedding night, and promise not to doubt her story just because she is a woman wearing makeup and not crying her heart out?
We have to #BeBoldForChange for ourselves, other women, and everyone else living on this planet. We have to take a stand for our own rights and for that of others. We need to stop being afraid of saying no, be it to our family, friends, colleagues. We are not born to please everyone. We are not here so our bodies can be used in bits to sell products or to make babies or save men’s honours.
We are here like other humans.

We are humans!

Who is the enemy?

A solider here a soldier there,
Following orders of those,
Who don't care,
They said,
Living not long ago,
Death seems to be everywhere,
Dying, dead or martyrs,
We fight for the righteous,
Cobblers, pushcart vendors, farmers,
Workers, drivers,
Those who sleep in the early hours,
Nay, not those, I say,
They would be dead,
For what were they but mere soldiers too?
Mourn, and move on,
Make way for the real oppressors,
Generals, feudal, mayors, tycoons,

And I say, you are all oppressors,
For I am a woman, and you,
Mere mortals!

Be one, not more

Twitter fights,

Silly rights,
Cyber farts and dummy brights,
Open your eyes,
Look around,
World is outside virtual bounds,
Round and round,
In this circular town,
Where there is hunger,
And death roams around,
You talk of stupid Tinseltown,
Wake up,
Look,
Some are dead, or dying tonight,
Rest are frightened of the light,
Knock at their doors,
Make them bold,
Bring them out of their moulds,
Make them fight,
Strive for right,
Shoot prejudice,
Clear the divide,
Wipe out the boundaries,
Be merry or contrite,
Bring a change,
Murder vain,
Make it happen,
Till all is ordained!

Where to draw a line?

Religion has become almost an obsession despite one believes in it or not. It seems no matter where one goes or lives, it still plays a role in everyday life. If not as a ritualistic routine, as some important news detail which leaves the mind boggled with the far reaching implications it may have. This is a blog related to the news item being referred here.

Reading it is pretty simple; a Mormon family demanding the right to practice their own religion. Not demanding recognition only a right. This right includes indulging in polygamy, which is a practice for which Muslims have been shunned by feminists, Catholics, Hindus, Jews etc. My fear is, if the Mormons win the case, it will pave the way for Muslims too. So this fear led me to find out a little more on religious freedom and the extent of rights to practice.

In the United States, the religious civil liberties are guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution:

“Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The "Establishment Clause," stating that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion," is generally read to prohibit the Federal government from establishing a national church ("religion") or excessively involving itself in religion, particularly to the benefit of one religion over another. Following the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and through the doctrine of incorporation, this restriction is held to be applicable to state governments as well.

The "Free Exercise Clause" states that Congress cannot "prohibit the free exercise" of religious practices. The Supreme Court of the United States has consistently held, however, that the right to free exercise of religion is not absolute. For example, in the 1800s, some of the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traditionally practiced polygamy, yet in Reynolds vs United States (1879), the Supreme Court upheld the criminal conviction of one of these members under a federal law banning polygamy. The Court reasoned that to do otherwise would set precedent for a full range of religious beliefs including those as extreme as human sacrifice. The Court stated that "Laws are made for the government of actions, and while they cannot interfere with mere religious belief and opinions, they may with practices."

It was reassuring to say the least. Hopefully, the case will be lost by the family. But it leaves me wondering where the State draws a line and on what grounds. There are women who indulge in this practice and do not mind. They are okay about sharing their husbands. What difference is between these women and the women in France who happily done the hijab and consider the ban, an intrusion on religious freedom. What about the liberals who support their right for doing so? Do they also support the right of the women who are happy with polygamous marriages? Or they would merely deny that there is any link at all between the two?

The question becomes if a woman is happy in polygamy, why should she not be allowed to do so? How do we decide on what aspects a person is allowed the pursuit of happiness and on what she/he is not.