All World
Gayatri Pariwar

Nature has created all categories of creatures in the forms of male and female. Both live together and assist each other. From the time of pregnancy to child rearing, both shoulder the responsibility together. Birds, for example, work together to create a nest. For this purpose, they do not hesitate to get or give help.
    
Being a more evolved creature, this collaboration should be to an even larger degree in man. When the natural attraction brings them together, the purpose behind it is obviously that they compliment each other. Woman is the goddess of art and emotions. Man has a concentration of courage and endurance. A complete personality emerges only upon combining the two. Evolution from imperfection to perfection is the purpose of bringing both the genders together. Only with their mutual cooperation, the cart of life can run smoothly on its track. Both should not only distribute tasks amongst themselves but also practice to assist each other if needed. This is indeed the social and natural purpose behind creation of the combination of male and female.

As long as this tradition was appropriately followed, this communion was successful and it benefited both men and women and the wheel of social system rolled on smoothly.

Misfortune struck when man gave undue importance to carnality, made it an addiction and like addicts made a mountain out of this molehill. When this belief reached mischievous heights in the medieval times of cultural downfall, then it brought forth unforeseen consequences. When defiance rode high then man thought of exploiting the temporary weakness of the woman during pregnancy. The physical weakness and inability to produce during the days of pregnancy were blown out of proportions and woman was taught to remain a slave to man, follow him blindly and be satisfied with the food and shelter provided to her in return. By and large, her ambitions to ascendt were suppressed and the thoughts of equality with man be buried. She was supposed to expect nothing from man except what is needed for basic survival. The logic given was that when the primary responsibility of reproduction has been laid on her then she must accept it as her destiny and remain content.

The logic sounded convincing and it was adopted as a tradition. The leash continued to be tightened until woman remained only a medium for sexual satisfaction of man.

This leash was tightened both from outside and from within. Externally, she was confined within the house walls and made to hide inside a veil. She was restricted from moving around alone. Terming this bondage as the curse of being a woman, she was forced by the male dominated society to live a disdainful life. Inhuman customs such as committing sati, shaving off /tonsuring the head, begging at the shrines etc, were initiated as these traditions helped the family members to get rid of the responsibility of supporting the widow and also, helped keep the widow away from laying claims to her husband’s property.

From the inside, woman was weakened to such an extent that she starting believing herself to simply be an object of desire and busied herself in putting on make-up and in looking more attractive and seductive. She started shunning hard labour in order to avoid its adverse impact on her tenderness and beauty. She started believing that her welfare was in dressing up like dolls and attracting her husband.

After this noose was tightened around her from both outside and inside, woman became crippled and helpless. She was brought to a situation where she was completely dependent on man. When this became a custom and the environment got tuned according to this belief then who could show resistance against it? How could anyone dare go against the tide? Men saw their benefits in this tradition. After all, they were getting maids in return for basic food, water and clothes. Why would they let the situation change? Women too had no other resort. By the time women reached the threshold of youth, they became mothers to many children. The upbringing of these children was so difficult that a mother was incapable of handling them alone. This gave rise to a tradition that is still being followed. Women in many parts of the world have remained dependent on their providers like a pet animal depends on its owner.

Even in the modern era of intellectual ascent and civilization, in several societies, especially in the developing and under developed world, she has no right to think of her development. She is not allowed to even express desire for independence. She is left to survive like a piece of rotting garbage and has to bury her desire for respect to some remote corner of her heart. What respect does a slave need? When there is enough food to fill the stomach and clothes to cover the body then why long for love and respect?

While there is some difference in the state of a woman in developed and developing nations, it is fundamentally identical. In developing or underdeveloped nations, she is under tremendous pressure and has to spend her days in a state of helplessness. In developed nations, she is encouraged to become more attractive and seductive so that she starts giving greater importance to comforts and glamour, and, on her own, feels tempted to earn the man’s favour. The result of the temptation is that she can be seen exposing her body a lot more and attracting the onlookers. This rising enthusiasm has created an ambience, especially in the developed world where coyness, which was once an asset of the woman, is hardly seen anywhere. Sometimes under the tag of ‘bold and beautiful’, sometimes of the glamour of ‘models of commercial advertisements’, she is being exploited or letting herself so in several ways in ultra modern societies.

This is not development. It is a pitiable expression of lack of self-respect. In both the developed and the developing nations, the women have their own unique plights and compulsions.

What Have Men Achieved by Oppressing Women?
Who gained what by pushing woman to this pitiable state? Woman suffered a big loss but man did not gain from this either. By depriving woman of her basic human rights, she was forced into a state of constraints and helplessness but what did man get in return? He lost an important collaborator who could have assisted him in his development, comforts and happiness and landed in a situation where he has to carry her like a heavy load on his own shoulders.
Even today, supporting the family is the sole responsibility of man in larger part of the world. It consumes him completely and makes him pensive and worried. How precarious is the situation, becomes clear when a woman with four-five children becomes a widow at a young age. The savings from her husband's earnings gets consumed on illness etc. After his death, the widow and children do not find a shelter anywhere – neither at parent's place nor with the in-laws. Children are scorned at every step and when they somehow grow up amidst such deprivation and contempt they most often become uncivilized and uncouth.

Mother's pain and agony knows no bounds. She lives like a corpse and somehow survives only under the compulsion of her affection towards her innocent children. There are numerous examples of such existence. Such plight presents its ugly face at almost every nook and corner and is a result of the insane and cruel custom where no opportunities are provided to woman for her education and independence. If she had also received these facilities, she would not have been a burden on anyone and would instead have been a helping hand in healthy development and advancement of the family-members.

If half the population lives as a cripple and the other half bears its burden then this situation is similar to that of a half paralysed sufferer. There is no comfort in this situation for either the healthy part or the paralysed part. It can be termed a big folly of the wise. Except meeting the shallow purpose of feeding man's ego, it yields nothing to be pleased about and nothing that could assist in in progress of the society and the nation. In fact it has impeded or retarded our ascent on most fronts.
It should be understood that by trampling his capable collaborator, man has only increased his own burden and introduced darkness in his own future. The purpose of sexual satisfaction, which was taken to its extremes and which was forced upon women, is not completely served either. In the entrapped state that woman is in, what can be conducted is only a rape. Pleasure is attained through dedicated cooperation and that happens only if proper attention is given to the development and comforts of the partner. Harmony can only be nurtured in the environment of service and gratitude and collaboration surely bears good fruit.

Immense Potential of Women:

Factually, woman's proficiency, dexterity and capability is no less than that of man. She is forced to bear children and citing this as a proof of her weakness, is then oppressed. This burden can be easily lightened. By pledging celibacy, or maintaining small family of at most two children, many couples have saved themselves from carrying this burden and have used the conserved energy in assisting each other to achieve greater competency and happiness. In such a situation they become like two balanced wheels of a cart that carry the loaded cart over a long distance and they both thus make their existence more meaningful.

Wherever she has found opportunities, woman has awakened her dormant capabilities and proved that she is ahead of man in every field. In the field of education, women score better than men. Her skills in the areas of education, medicine, art and science are better than men. She is not behind in business and industry either. Her backwardness is not inborn. It has been forced upon her. If the noose around her is loosened and an opportunity is provided for her independent talent to emerge then the balance would surely tilt to her side. In all living creatures there is only a slight difference between males and females and it does not imply that one could be considered more capable than the other. Both have their own specialities and capabilities. Confluence of these is an example of the strength that lies in unity. It is difficult to fathom what man gained by crippling half the population  but it is clear that he suffered a huge loss.

Woman symbolizes goddess Lakshmi but only if she has been nurtured with intensive cooperation and support.  Her emotional strength, her patience, her motherly affection alone can nurture lasting happiness and peace along with materialistic progress.

The mistake of suppressing her potentials has been committed over a long period of time and it has caused extensive damage. Time has arrived to correct this mistake and to instil new traditions. Blame lies with man and hence he must atone first. In his zone of influence, he must inspire everyone to leave no stone unturned in uplifting and making women capable of becoming independent, cultured and full of self-respect, so that the proof of their development becomes visible on all fronts of familial, social and global rise.