Balance for better
My latest read, ‘Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions’ by Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was originally a letter that the author had written when her friend asked her for suggestions on how to raise her baby girl a feminist. As Chimamanda’s book revealed her 15 suggestions, I found myself saying, “But hey, that’s how it is here too!”
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, or for that matter, Ijeawele or any of the other names in the book were not easy for me to pronounce. The same would be true, I pondered, for Chimamanda herself if I had had a more complicated Asian name. There is an abyss between Chimamanda’s world and mine, right from our native country and continent, to the language we speak, the kind of clothes we wear, our lifestyle and culture, just to mention a few.
Yet, in spite of such a yawning divide, one thing that I found common between her world and mine is how women are treated.
Be it marriage, parenting, grooming and appearances, social norms, and a whole lot of parameters, the prejudices pertaining to gender roles are the same anywhere in the world. This book may have been published in 2017 but its relevance can be traced to even a hundred years ago.
Undeniably, the status of women in the family and society has undergone commendable change over the years. Yet, it’s not enough. It ‘s a frustrating case of one step forward, two steps back. What we need today are not feminists but ‘humanists’.
The theme for International Women’s Day 2019 is ‘Think equal, build smart, innovate for change’. Hope this campaign with its hashtag ‘Balance For Better’ helps create a more unbiased society. And let us hope this book loses its relevance at least a decade from now.
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt Mar 02, 2019
#TheQuintessentialWord #TheFlautistofBrindaranyam #BalanceforBetter #IWD2091
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, or for that matter, Ijeawele or any of the other names in the book were not easy for me to pronounce. The same would be true, I pondered, for Chimamanda herself if I had had a more complicated Asian name. There is an abyss between Chimamanda’s world and mine, right from our native country and continent, to the language we speak, the kind of clothes we wear, our lifestyle and culture, just to mention a few.
Yet, in spite of such a yawning divide, one thing that I found common between her world and mine is how women are treated.
Be it marriage, parenting, grooming and appearances, social norms, and a whole lot of parameters, the prejudices pertaining to gender roles are the same anywhere in the world. This book may have been published in 2017 but its relevance can be traced to even a hundred years ago.
Undeniably, the status of women in the family and society has undergone commendable change over the years. Yet, it’s not enough. It ‘s a frustrating case of one step forward, two steps back. What we need today are not feminists but ‘humanists’.
The theme for International Women’s Day 2019 is ‘Think equal, build smart, innovate for change’. Hope this campaign with its hashtag ‘Balance For Better’ helps create a more unbiased society. And let us hope this book loses its relevance at least a decade from now.
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt Mar 02, 2019
#TheQuintessentialWord #TheFlautistofBrindaranyam #BalanceforBetter #IWD2091
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
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