Another Woman’s Day went by, and thankfully with lesser number of flimflam and hullabaloos that I've been hearing for many years, ever since I got to know what this much talked about day is all about. Every year, our calendar overflows with umpteen occasions to celebrate; and while many of these special days are about eating, drinking, and making merry, it’s not the same with Women’s day, especially when we live in a society where women are compelled to feel that there’s nothing to be happy about being women who are forced to live amid men who are no less than hooligans, ready to pounce on any woman they get to see.
As the year continues to roll out, unfolding the never-ending cruelties against women and kids across the world, all that we do on Women’s Day is exchange useless text messages or sit around and futilely debate about attacks against women and children, only to forget them all by the end of the day, while at the same time as many as hundreds of gruesome rapes and other atrocities continue to happen at every part of our country, thus repeatedly resonating that no matter however we progress, women can never have a peaceful and happy life anywhere in this country.
All the verbal vomit and emotional hype that we manage to act out during every one of those much exaggerated Woman’s Day discussion become the part of yet another bygone day, as we continue to get back to our lives again, leaving away all those discussions and decisions to work for women’s freedom and safety. So why exactly do we have a Woman’s Day and what precisely is the purpose of this day? I believe it’s high time to wake up to reality and face the cold hard truth, which is the unchanged situation and the unprogressive mentalities of many people out there, who still pose serious threats that make women empowerment far from being possible. I was at home during this weekend, and happened to watch a few Women’s Day programs and discussions, not because I feel they are genuinely worth the time I spend, but for lack of any other options left. All that I could hear throughout was shit load of immature sounding and fame hungry talks of women who repeatedly added the words ‘women empowerment’ at every point of discussion, without even having an idea of what they mean to say. The discussions kept going-on and so did the reiteration of the words ‘women empowerment’, but no one could clearly put out their thoughts on what can be done to make the worsening situations better, and make our country a better and safer place for women, in all respects. As the discussions drew to a close, I couldn’t remember even one worth mentioning point from the entire meaningless verbal juggleries that happened throughout the entire one hour.
This is exactly what happens on every Women’s Day, and will continue to happen for endless number of years, as long as we don’t take pains to delve deeper in to the problems that women face in today’s society, and find long-term solutions to deal with them effectively. But sadly, nowadays, Women’s Day is just confined to the media discussions and exaggerated seminars that make a mockery of the whole concept. We do all the talking from dawn to dusk wait for the next year to next year to continue exhibiting our oratory skills on topics about women empowerment, catchy enough to amass a good number of audience from everywhere. Doing the whole lot of talking, and not taking even the smallest step to making them all happen is a sheer ridicule and insult to the cause for which we talk about. In the desperate to portray themselves as die-heart ‘feminists’, many of our self-confessed women activists do nothing but focus on self-marketing and money mining in the pretext of Women’s Day celebrations and seminars.
Women are not in need of a day to celebrate her, but need the strongest support to save her from being abused, humiliated, and attacked. What she needs is not the thunderous applaud of a group of hypocrites in a media discussion or a seminar, snootily sitting around a table, discussing things that they have no idea about. On the contrary, she needs honest efforts that can to help her live with self-respect, integrity and satisfaction. When safety from acid attacks and gang rapes are far from reality, why make a ridicule of womanhood with all the supercilious doings on every Women’s Day, only to wait for a couple of hours to savor the morning news of yet another gang rape at some part of the country, to inhumanely discuss on a prime time news about the possible ways the woman could have been sexually abused, or to have yet another usual gossip session with a neighbor about the how the parents of the girl ‘failed’ to save their child from being raped.
It’s high time we rise and address the reality, or else Women’s Day will soon become as redundant as the other namesake ‘days’ that we hardly bother to remember.
When the means destroy the ends
A young college going girl, a bubbly teenager, enters the adult film industry, just because she is desperately in need of money to pay her tuition fees! If that sounds like the storyline of a movie, let me clarify, it's not, on the contrary, the story was almost the headline of the every newspaper that I read the other day. Although I couldn’t decipher the news value of what was written, I must say that the entire news story was carefully jotted down with the intention to portray her as a ‘daring and determined’ woman who wants to scale greater heights in life, the reason why she ended up doing what others of her age would never ever have dreamt of even in their wildest dreams; thus expecting the reader to leave teary eyed. But I am sorry to say that I am not one of such emotionally weak person who would feel sorry for someone who has chosen an industry that can leave her on the marginalized space in the society from where she would have the faintest chance of building up a prospective career of her own, even after all the troubles that she’s taking to finish her education.
No matter how broaden our minds are, we’re yet to widen our thoughts about those who are part of the industry that most of us hate or hesitate to speak in public. Adult industry and adult movies are the hush-hush topics for most of us, and I am pretty sure that we would definitely think twice before sharing a space with an adult movie star, just because of the industry he/she comes from. With such scarily narrowed thoughts about adult film industry, I cannot help but wonder how the lady whom I am speaking about will manage to finish her education and get herself a good job, and climb up the ladder of career success. It’s hard! It’s really hard!
With that I said, I must state this very clearly that I have no hatred for adult movie stars, and think they are just one among us, and in fact the must-haves of a few people who feel the lack of having adequate options to take themselves to the paramount of ultimate physical satisfaction. Yes, it’s a booming business and many people voluntarily opt for it, looking out to make quick bucks, and at the same time enjoy their bit of sexual gratification every day. It’s their call and I am no one to judge them. But what I read now is a different story, where a college going girl voluntarily works for adult movies and make money for her tuition fees, without the knowledge of her parents. While she does it for a good cause, and want to build up a career for herself, her choice of part time job is what keeps me thinking, as I vehemently feel she has made a wrong choice for herself. Making a worse mishmash of the whole situation, she’s now come out to speak about it in public, which I think, would not bring her any gain other than adding more predicaments. As I said, I have no intention to judge her based on what she does to make a living, but, strongly feels it would fade her career prospects so badly, just because of the profession she has chosen.
What you choose to do will definitely influence how you’re looked upon by people, the general public as well as those close to you. This holds true in all that we do, and adult movie making is no different. In a society where abuses against women hit the headlines practically each day, we can presume how hard it would be for women like her to lead a normal life and dig her past way. At some point or the other, the lid of the can of worms that she may close as tightly as possible would open abruptly, leaving her to being ignored, teased, left out, and sometimes abused. Is this what she would be wanting for herself in the coming days? I don’t know! Even when I completely understand her need for getting the best education for herself, I strongly feel, she would have had a number of other options for herself, to get the money that she wanted. Scholarships and loans are not new to us, although time-consuming, and contains some strenuous documentations and works that may test your patience and hope at many situations. Even part time jobs are very common these days, and most of them are well paying ones, sufficient enough for a single woman to enroll herself in an average university. So, in spite of the splendid availability of several opportunities that could have helped her amass the money for her tuition fees, she chose to do this, breaking all the societal barriers. While accepting her courage to take such a bold step, I can’t help but think about all the possible outcomes of what she has chosen to do.
Let me conclude this post with an anecdote- As I was reading one of the well-known newspapers, I happened to read a news story in the entertainment section, which said a famous show host refused to invite an actress to his show, only because she was working with the adult industry before being a part of the main stream cinema. If this is how the an entertainment industry perceives about yet another one, what would happen if an ex-adult movie star applies for a job in an MNC? I leave it for you to think.
No matter how broaden our minds are, we’re yet to widen our thoughts about those who are part of the industry that most of us hate or hesitate to speak in public. Adult industry and adult movies are the hush-hush topics for most of us, and I am pretty sure that we would definitely think twice before sharing a space with an adult movie star, just because of the industry he/she comes from. With such scarily narrowed thoughts about adult film industry, I cannot help but wonder how the lady whom I am speaking about will manage to finish her education and get herself a good job, and climb up the ladder of career success. It’s hard! It’s really hard!
With that I said, I must state this very clearly that I have no hatred for adult movie stars, and think they are just one among us, and in fact the must-haves of a few people who feel the lack of having adequate options to take themselves to the paramount of ultimate physical satisfaction. Yes, it’s a booming business and many people voluntarily opt for it, looking out to make quick bucks, and at the same time enjoy their bit of sexual gratification every day. It’s their call and I am no one to judge them. But what I read now is a different story, where a college going girl voluntarily works for adult movies and make money for her tuition fees, without the knowledge of her parents. While she does it for a good cause, and want to build up a career for herself, her choice of part time job is what keeps me thinking, as I vehemently feel she has made a wrong choice for herself. Making a worse mishmash of the whole situation, she’s now come out to speak about it in public, which I think, would not bring her any gain other than adding more predicaments. As I said, I have no intention to judge her based on what she does to make a living, but, strongly feels it would fade her career prospects so badly, just because of the profession she has chosen.
What you choose to do will definitely influence how you’re looked upon by people, the general public as well as those close to you. This holds true in all that we do, and adult movie making is no different. In a society where abuses against women hit the headlines practically each day, we can presume how hard it would be for women like her to lead a normal life and dig her past way. At some point or the other, the lid of the can of worms that she may close as tightly as possible would open abruptly, leaving her to being ignored, teased, left out, and sometimes abused. Is this what she would be wanting for herself in the coming days? I don’t know! Even when I completely understand her need for getting the best education for herself, I strongly feel, she would have had a number of other options for herself, to get the money that she wanted. Scholarships and loans are not new to us, although time-consuming, and contains some strenuous documentations and works that may test your patience and hope at many situations. Even part time jobs are very common these days, and most of them are well paying ones, sufficient enough for a single woman to enroll herself in an average university. So, in spite of the splendid availability of several opportunities that could have helped her amass the money for her tuition fees, she chose to do this, breaking all the societal barriers. While accepting her courage to take such a bold step, I can’t help but think about all the possible outcomes of what she has chosen to do.
Let me conclude this post with an anecdote- As I was reading one of the well-known newspapers, I happened to read a news story in the entertainment section, which said a famous show host refused to invite an actress to his show, only because she was working with the adult industry before being a part of the main stream cinema. If this is how the an entertainment industry perceives about yet another one, what would happen if an ex-adult movie star applies for a job in an MNC? I leave it for you to think.
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