Thursday, July 22, 2010

Women’s Rights Should Not Be Ostracized



Each day around the world a woman is ostracized. She is abused, neglected, abandoned or ousted from her identity to exist. Her consort, whom she looks up to as her knight in shinning armor becomes her greatest predator. Her valor and enthusiasm for life is often assumed to be audacious. She is continuously prejudiced in her right to survive, in her will to live a life of equality and similitude. Her tolerance for pain and suffering is considered to be her fate and fear. Her emotions are speculated and judged. Soraya. M, a woman sacrificed in the name of honor and stoned to death for alleged adultery almost two decades ago in a village in Iran is a mirror of such tribulation. More than 20 years later, women still are victimized and terrorized around the globe. Their voices are suppressed and their rights are extirpated to shun them of love, dignity and opportunity. 

Soraya.M’s horrific tale, a true story made into a movie by Cyrus Nowrasteh (The Stoning Of Soraya.M, 2008) is a pinch to the soul and a volcanic eruption for the mind. It is not a story of a woman, a village or a country but a story that lapidates the prerogative and state of womanliness. Like her even today many Sorayas are suffocated in relationships, trafficked across borders, abducted to brighten brothels, swindled into sexual drudgery though child marriages, genitally mutilated, beaten and infiltrated through aggravated sexual assault. Are these acts less barbaric than casting of stones? These may not seem as horrifying as stoning. But the screams from such acts emit an equal shrill. If I had simply watched the Stoning of Soraya and wiped my tears that trickled down during the movie’s climax, I would have been incompetent in my service to self and in torching justice for injustice. I hence decided to present my readers with this video to aware and educate on ostracism against innocence, independence and empowerment, which are the basic constituents of woman’s rights. 

In order to understand the necessity to honor a woman’s right; one needs to appreciate the role she plays in our survival. She gives life to gift mankind with the greatest pleasure on earth in being alive. She nurtures in a way that makes one learn the essence of subsistence. As an epitome of love and compassion, she consecrates harmony and happiness in relationships. For man to accept such feature may seem unlikely of his might. But it’s imperative to realize that strength of man’s muscle and character, the power in governances around the orb and the depth of ecclesiastical tenets does not lie in her coercion and crucifixion. With each woman executed physically, mentally and/or emotionally inside her home, on the streets, in business, politics or in foreign lands leaves us with martyrs for causes just like Soraya left with her story for the world to feel her pain. Man and his masculinity shouldn’t just be a symbol of violence and transgression. Likewise regulations and axioms shouldn’t be so gruesome that they become a threat to the spirit and essence of existence. Irrespective of our physicality, for god both men and women are equal for he decides not to reside up above in the blue sky but inside us, in our wisdom and in our deeds. He created man as an epitome of care and courage to fend for his counterpart (not just through marriage or any relationship) but in the chastity of an eclectic circle called humanity. 

So if you are a man and you see a women being expelled of her rights……
  • Stand up against violence. You shall be more of a man in doing so
  • Care for other women as you would care for your own
  • Learn to respect femininity. It may not seem as powerful as masculinity but without it your machismo certainly is incomplete 
  • Be an advocate to stop ostracism against women. Talk to peers, family and friends or whoever you think is the smallest dust particle that causes such offense. 
  • Everybody says that it’s a man’s world. Is it or isn’t it? is not the question. The real quest is to make this world a better place for everyone to live including every woman you meet in your lifetime, irrespective of her role or abilities.  
  • If you are the King, she is the Queen, so treat her like one. You will be a torch bearer for others.  


If you are a woman and you see another woman being blackballed......................
  • The best thing you can do is to stop being critical of another woman’s plight  
  • Stop mutter or gossip about other woman’s dilemma. Stand up for truth and freedom. It will show your magnanimity and not self-centeredness. 
  • A woman standing up for every other woman will empower so many sisters in the spirit circle. It shall lessen half the problems that we women create for each other knowingly or unknowingly throughout our lives. 
  • Break the cycle of abuse. Call for help/ emergency or crisis network if you see or know of a woman or child being abused physically, mentally or emotionally.
  • Log in http://www.hotpeachpages.net/( an International directory of domestic violence agencies with abuse information in over 80 languages). 
On exposing to such change and bailing out the one in crisis, we shall rescue ourselves from mental handicaps based on discriminations and radical doctrines and realize that women’s rights are human rights.

Copyright (c) 2010 - present Dharbarkha.blogspot
Video Courtesy: http://www.youtube.com/user/BarkhaDhar

11 comments:

  1. Thank you for the kind comment! And well done on this article!

    Would you like to exchange links?

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  2. Hi,
    What an awesome piece of writing! "BRAVO" is right on...
    How inspiring to come here, at 5am or so, way too early to be awake and read this.

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  3. This is a powerful post which should be read by all. Your writing has amazing depth and you utilize it to bring women's issues from across the globe to the fore. I have posted about your site today in the hopes that many more will discover your incredible talent. Thank you for your undaunted activism.

    cher

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  4. Thank you for the compliment on my "Empowering" post. You are AWESOME! You are direct, to the point, and a very clear, open writer. If you read what people say about my blog, it's that I'm honest and candid. If I thought any differently about your work, I would say nothing.
    I hit BlogThis! and with your permission---and full attribution, of course, I'd like to quote this in total. Please let me know. Sweet tides, my friend. Linda

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  5. A powerful piece. I love the section on appreciating the role women have in society.

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  6. Thank you all for such profundity in your comments for this post. I appreciate and admire your time and patience to share your thoughts and emotions here.
    With my best to all of you
    Barkha Dhar

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  7. It was great post. Please also add some statistics to make a more valid case. I actually came from Shout box of Vimeo. Seems like Vimeo will only accept True Video clips. So I doubt if they will accept yours in their HD channel. Anyways nice job.

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  8. wonderful article. i wish this one reaches many more people and becomes an eye opener. wish you all the best!

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  9. A truly passionate post. I particularly liked the part about women standing up for those abused and asking them to refrain from targeting a fellow woman for gossip and pulling down. Except in cases of abuse due to ideological doctrines as in Iran and other such countries, if women came out and stood up for each other a lot can be accomplished. We need committed govt. programmes and NGOs who work on such causes.

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