Thursday 26 April 2012

I love the internet- it is my vehicle of communication, accessing information, entertainment (Yohoho and a bottle of rum) and my own personal procrastination machine. What I’ve been seeing on the internet of late, though, is simply disappointing.  As much as I hate to quote Dubstep, the internet was developed to break our limits, not create them. Posts like these, however, are doing just that: setting limits on mankind.
This was posted on 9gag on Women's Day.
Somehow, I can foretell the multitude of comments that are going to accuse me of being devoid of a sense of humour. Yes, I know these posts aren’t intended to be taken entirely seriously, but they are worrying nevertheless. For centuries, forward thinking men and women have fought to bring humanity closer to gender equality. Unfortunately, all these comics do is show humanity’s stubborn and ignorant resolution to hold ourselves back. Old fashioned, orthodox values about ‘women belonging in the kitchen’ are not so surprising when they are held by people from older generations, who never had the opportunities to educate themselves about the necessity of women’s rights in a successful society. The dwellers of the internet, though, are people of my generation- people who, if they chose to, could accomplish much more than the casual, “humorous” subjugation and repression of women “as a joke”. The fact that these jokes seem to be omnipresent, and increasingly popular reveals how backward we- the generation of the future- have become. We are never going to accomplish our goals as the human race if an entire half of that race is constantly being supressed. Progress lies in compromise and cooperation, not a reversion to outdated and counterproductive principles. Rant over (for now).

4 comments:

  1. Dear Rama,
    Only the weak and insecure seek equality and demand attention towards the repression they feel,you are a modern educated and [really pampered] woman,you should never want to attain equality as you already are better than most men of your age can dream to be,when you direct your creative energy towards re aligning the general attitude of humanity,do so out of strength and an utter disdain for those who still feel that a woman is some what of a object and that they are being progressive by saying that women are their equals.
    To try to recite the achievements of other women is quite counterproductive in an argument for equality,men are the produce of their mothers and if each mother chooses to enforce this feeling of equality to their male offspring,in one generation we can eliminate this curse,so that is my unsolicited advice,BE FREE

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    1. Ravi Kaka,
      thanks for reading and for the feedback. While I recognize that I myself have a lot of luck and numeruous luxuries, I also realise that for a lot of women, the matter of these jokes is reality.
      I agree with you, though, that it's all in the upbringing

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  2. dear rama,
    ur takeaway from such sites/posts should not be bitterness darling!
    IGNORE THEM

    rememeber it is women like u who have it in them -who can make a difference...
    just be sure u keep ur head up with ambition (which i have seen in u), ur back straight (with pride of being one of a kind and being awesome)and ur feet on the ground (remembering where you come from and where u can put ur roots down)
    from there on , sky is the limit

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Prajakta tai
      I know they're silly jokes, and so I think I was a bit unclear. Although they're annoying, what I really wanted to point out is what they say about us, and my peers all over the world. It feels like we're making an effort to hold back our species, and I just feel that's a shame.
      Of course, it shouldn't change anybody's strong approach to life, though :D

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