लल्ला पुराण ६१ Gender

Gender (मर्दवाद) is not an attribute of biology or genetics, nor is it any idea like the value of ‘pi’ (=22/7[Approx.]), which has traveled to us through generations. Gender is not an idea but an ideology which is maintained; perpetuated; constructed and reconstructed in our everyday life processes. Ideology is a false consciousness that projects propagates a particular construct as the only value to guide a so-called virtuous life that is natural; absolute; eternal and the final truth, orchestrated by the organic intellectuals including the clergy and the scriptures. Ideologies (religion to top the order of effectiveness), have been historically most effective tools of establishing; maintaining and extending the hegemony by the dominant classes/sexes. The dominant classes/sexes use all the ideological apparatuses to get the partisan interest accepted and acknowledged as universal and of all, in the same way as capitalist state is projected as state of all. But the law of dialectics is that anything that exists is subject to perish, so would patriarchy and, its ideology, the gender (मर्दवाद).
     
The history of gender as an ideology is as old as the history of civilization itself that began with the formation of patriarchal family as the first association in the process of the social development, and also the first association to breed inequality and unfreedom. The woman was to be the first victim of civilization progress based on the principles of domination and subjugation due to inequality caused by the advent of private property. Ideology is double edged weapon. It impacts/influences/affects both – the perpetrator and the victim -- alike and is internalized by the both. To be a MCP (Male chauvinist Pig), one needs not necessarily be male in the same way as to be a feminist, you need not necessarily be a female. The rapist does not get any sexual pleasure but  a kind of male chauvinist sadist pleasure of having “ruined” the victim as if essence of her life lies just between the legs and prevalent, rotten social values demand the victim  not the perpetrator to be in oblivion for defamation, as there will be problems in her marriage. That is how the ideology is perpetuated. Sushma Swaraj need not to be a man to come with utter disdainful anti-feminist utterance in the parliament that the life of the rape victim is worse than death. The “working women” (who is non-working?) do double role (of full time professional and full time house wife) not under physical or economic coercion but under ideologically inculcated hegemonic coercion. That is why our fight is not against a particular gendered injustice that may be a triggering point; our fight is against the gender as an ideology; against its idioms and phrases; against its vocabulary and terminology. Sexual violence, including conjugal rapes and child abuses, generally by relatives and family friends, is just the symptom, the disease is the patriarchy sustaining itself through the ideology of gender perpetuated by ideological apparatuses of state, society and family. These institutions, by and large have remained patriarchal, notwithstanding the fact that women are doing miracles in almost all fields of life, particularly in the realm of scholarship despite fettering taboos and inhibitions meant to control female sexuality and thereby female personality. Patriarchy must opt for peaceful death otherwise shall be washed away by the surging tide of feminist assertion and scholarship that seems, now, committed and determined to occupy the roads and night without the fear of Gods or ghosts; bullets and jails. Increasing sexual violence is sign of desperation of crashing patriarchy, culturally shocked with increasing vocal presence of women in public places defying patriarchal norms and taboos. The surging sea of feminist assertion and scholarship is unstoppable. Youngsters have issued a warning and exhibited the prelude of the things to come by occupying the Rajpath.