By Saujanya Behera:
Dear girls,
The whole country is going gaga over the movie Pink and its brutal and honest representation of Indian Society. Yes, the boys need to be told that single girls (or any girl or woman for that matter) are not just sex objects.
So I do hope that you know:
Every time you laugh along with guys at a sexist joke to be cool and fit in, you are insulting yourself. Whenever they check out a girl and pass a lewd comment and you choose to ignore it, you are insulting yourself. Every time you participate in forwarding one of those insanely stupid wife-bashing jokes on Whatsapp, maybe you are insulting your mother. Every time, at parties, when you move your bodies to the tunes of Honey Singh or the item songs of today, you are body shaming yourself.
Every time you buy a ticket to watch some Bollywood movie where the woman is just an eye candy, a damsel in distress or a happy woman who lets a guy stalk her; whose ‘No’ is taken as a ‘Yes’ by the male lead, you are setting a bad example.
Every time you overlook your boyfriend’s flaws when he seems attracted to some other girl (because he is a guy, it’s normal), or if you go back to a man just because the society wants you to, you are undermining yourself.
Every time your family discusses how much dowry to give for your sister’s marriage and you sit quietly because you are too young to say anything, you are perpetuating a social evil that takes away the happiness of countless young brides.
Every time you advise a friend to ignore a man’s stares and advancements because the society just doesn’t listen to these complaints, you are giving these perverts a chance to destroy the innocence of so many girls out there. Sometimes you ignore someone staring at you as well.
To sum up, these little, seemingly insignificant issues actually play a significant role in shaping the impressionable minds of the kids in our country. Along with speaking out in favour of feminism, we first need to respect ourselves and teach everyone the same.
We can play a crucial role in ending this deep-rooted misogyny.
Sincerely yours,
Just another girl.