By Priyanka Pani:
I adore male chauvinists, that charming class of species that has been an evergreen source of fodder for many a disenchanted lady’s writing. A cheap, plentiful and unlimited fuel to add to the ever-burning fire. Now yours’ truly is no bra-burning, slogan-shouting activist but hey, every once in a while, you do notice that things are a little askance. Privileges are revoked, strange, unexplained sanctions are imposed and life, in general, is complicated in an unsubtle manner by these self-imposed male guardians of our society. Most of the time, all this is done safely ensconced in that blanket of protection called safety. They care for our well-being, you see. Bollocks, I say! They are probably terrified of being made to feel at par with a lowly woman; to them, absolute ignominy. And I shall reserve my choicest and sternest words of disapproval for the women that are privy to this and willing accomplices. They will not object to the weird sanctions, the unfair practices, instead enforcing them upon us. If you’re clicking your tongue in sympathy wondering what particularly repulsive male (and his female accomplice) I encountered, it all started like this…
All this male-bashing is borne out of the fact that my university imposes strict, bootcamp-style restrictions on the lady folk while the boys have all the fun. There was talk a few days ago of students being sent to their respective home towns/cities for the purpose of publicity of our annual college festival. This got me building castles in the air, since any opportunity to run homewards is never wasted by me. I was expecting some sort of selection process, that tested your advertising skills, speaking etc. What I wasn’t expecting was for a friend in the know to awkwardly inform me that the first criteria for selection was that you be Adam’s direct descendant. Now I know my way around the city where I live, I’d obviously be putting up at my home for that duration and I have friends in colleges there who would aid in the publicity.
So where exactly lay the problem? The problem is that some opinionated, old-school dinosaur up there thinks a woman/girl student belongs indoors, and it is in her best interest to quietly watch while her friends (male) live her dream. Feminism has never been my cup of tea but incidents like these do tend to touch upon that dormant feminist streak. Granted that most of the restrictions are necessary and serve good purpose, but the unnecessary ones seem like the product of one of those chauvinists’ whims. One just hopes that it doesn’t get worse as one leaves college and moves into that insanely crazier and meaner world. There’s just too many men who would like to run the show, and too few women who want to have a say. We’re outnumbered is what we are.
Having said that, some of my closest friends are men so I don’t really harbor any ambitions of wiping the earth clean of that enjoyable buch of humans. Just their old-school friends who do not like to share. It’s time they realize we’re all on level ground, with an equal share to the spoils. Also, it would be in their best interests to share, care and play fair. Women, as you would have heard (or experienced..!), have perfected one art over the ages and that is the art of revenge, Sweet Revenge 😉