Women & Revolution ✨

People often say that in earlier times women were more free to make their own choices. I BEG TO DIFFER. What I believe is back then women didn't know they can voice their opinions, they didn't know of women's life apart from a homemaker, they didn't know that their silent submission has birthed an oppressive society and if you don't know what's wrong, how would you ever fight for what can be right.

As a little girl, I used to be fascinated with stories of Princesses and Swayamvars. (always was a hopeless romantic). It was such a liberating thought of being able to choose a partner one would like to spend life with. And it sounds much more amazing when you live in a society that believes in caste and religious differences. But then I grew up and the bubble burst, little did I know that the only people allowed to attend those fairytale kind of swayamvars had to be kings owning large pieces of land. But what if a princess ends up falling in love with a common man, what then? Where was the choice? Those marriages were nothing more than political ventures between two wealthy families. 

Even then women were bound by rules, they just didn't know of it and that made all the difference. They thought their existence was merely to marry well and please everyone else but themselves, that's what they have been told and taught by their mothers. Nothing has changed in between then and now except the knowledge of existence of boundaries that once used to be so subtle that women failed to see it. Now they see it and are doing their best to break it.

There is a very common phrase 'mard ke dil ka rasta pet se hokr jata h', often said by our mothers in context of making men fall in love. But no one ever asked 'what is it that a woman desire?' and 'how would one ever achieve it', why is that? Who decides how a woman should behave and talk and walk? Why are women supposed to be the sacrificial lamb in a man's journey of being successful? Why is it that women are brought up in a way that they their whole life becomes a compromise without them even realising it? Why is it that a woman's existence is only to be someone's support system? Why is that a woman's character is judged by the amount of pain she endures in silence? And most importantly, what about 'who they want to be'? WHAT WOMEN DESIRE?

Women are born feminists in the eyes of society that stereotypes everything because they are always trying to change the idea of how a woman should be. Women are name-called, slut-shamed for standing up against the brutality and abuse. Women are tagged as rebels (as if it's a bad thing) but no one ever acknowledges the sufferings that made them revolt. Women bring revolution because they know there is no one else who is going to do it for them. They scream out their demands because softly spoken their words die behind the walls of their room. And once they realise their worth, there is no stopping them. A woman who knows her value is truly invincible.

Like it's said 'If no one listens to you, make them'. So While The World Was Waiting For  Hapless Damsels in Distress, Women Became The Revolution.

P.s: Been a while since I wrote an article. Be kind. 

Picture Credit: teenvogue

@astha/poetry.in.soul 🌻