This needs long comment. Gender is not an attribute of biology but an ideology that affects the perpetrator and the victim alike. With the rising tide of feminist assertion and scholarship, this ideological hegemony is cracking, has not yet been broken and buried. The changes as yet are evolutionary and quantitative that are bound to mature into revolutionary, qualitative changes with the end of patriarchy that is eventually inevitable. Law of history is anything that exists is destined to perish. In my last 10-15 years of teaching experience, girls, in general are performing better than boys, not only in the examinations, but otherwise also and many of them seriously questioning and challenging the social stereotypes, which had been taken as axioms. The reason of this is that the memories of the centuries of discrimination and deprivation are still fresh. Once they have gained the opportunities, they are desperate to prove themselves and create an independent work identity. They are keen to accept and throw challenges. Habits die hard, the emancipation from social values internalized since childhood is time taking and requires courage and insight. But the surging stream of feminist assertion and scholarship cant be stopped by the straws of verbal-physical sexual assaults. Let us catalyze the process of women's and hence human emancipation.
Sunita Dixit No word/joke is value free all the words are value loaded and help in perpetuating hegemony. For example "एक लड़की कालेज जाती है तो 40 तड़के फेल हो जाते हैं", conforms the sensuous notion of female body orchestrated by likes of Khomeinis and Golvalkars; and the agents of consumer culture of Corporate capitalism, which exhibits the female body to sell its goods, even the shaving cream and other exclusive "men's" things. Many times we become careless in choice of words and unknowingly help perpetuating the values, we would like to oppose. Calling Beta to complement a girl is one such carelessness of choice of the words. As I said above, ideology affects both -- the perpetrator and victim alike -- and hence the girl also takes it as a complement, instead of saying, "excuse me, I don't take oit as a complement". Can we complement a boiy by calling him Beti?
Sunita Dixit No word/joke is value free all the words are value loaded and help in perpetuating hegemony. For example "एक लड़की कालेज जाती है तो 40 तड़के फेल हो जाते हैं", conforms the sensuous notion of female body orchestrated by likes of Khomeinis and Golvalkars; and the agents of consumer culture of Corporate capitalism, which exhibits the female body to sell its goods, even the shaving cream and other exclusive "men's" things. Many times we become careless in choice of words and unknowingly help perpetuating the values, we would like to oppose. Calling Beta to complement a girl is one such carelessness of choice of the words. As I said above, ideology affects both -- the perpetrator and victim alike -- and hence the girl also takes it as a complement, instead of saying, "excuse me, I don't take oit as a complement". Can we complement a boiy by calling him Beti?
a limited radical? or a frightened radical?
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ReplyDeleteA radical is not afraid of any one, neither of God nor Ghost. To be a radical is to attack the roots and for a man he himself is the root. Do not make a judgmental statement without substantiating. Plese point out the limitations of radicalism.
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