Today, I read two great articles and thought that I had to share them with others because this affects all of our lives. The mentality of our society is so disturbing that I just had to share these. Please read them both thoroughly and don't just skip through them.
Who Are You?
Some of you might already have different interpretations of the topic and some of you are probably just too bored to care. But I ask you to pay attention to what I'm saying, for this pertains to something that concerns all of us. Not just us, as students, but us as the future of the world. It all began with, well I'm not actually sure with who or when it did begin. Who decided the roles men and women had to play in society? When? Why? Did someone just wake up one day and think, “Oh wait, how about making men the strong ones and women the weak ones? Yes, that sounds great!” And then who decided that strong meant being emotionally stunted and unable to truly express your thoughts, to cry, to rage, to feel. And weak meant staying indoors looking after the kids. Who decided that strong translated to the right to do whatever you want. And weak translated to the right to…oh yeah, not having rights at all. Of course this is only applicable if you're allowed to be born in the first place. Allow me to share a little story of when I was born. When my father heard that he'd had a baby girl, he literally started dancing in joy. And guess what the people around him said. Said, as in a statement and not even a question, “Congratulations, it's a boy.” And that, that is the mentality in our society now. Happiness at the birth of a baby? Must be a boy. After all, a girl is just so much trouble. You raise her, you pay for her, and then she goes and gets married and you have to pay for that too. This exact thought process is the root cause of female infanticide. Let's move on to a few more issues we've normalized. Rape. Child abuse. Hate crime. Take your pick. There are so many. Speaking of rape, did you know that according to some of our esteemed politicians, it's the female who's at fault for getting raped. And not just according to them, but a large section of society, men and women. Oh look! A girl out late at night wearing a dress? What, she had a few drinks too? She's definitely asking for it, right? This mentality of victim-blaming has led to stark differences in the way boys and girls do the same thing. After all, she should've been more careful. Moving on, let's address another issue, marital rape where apparently once you get married, the word 'no' becomes redundant. But wait, marital rape? That's not a thing, is it? It's not rape if you're married, right? Wrong. A no means no. Period. There's no thinking involved here. This sense of self-entitlement towards ones significant other and the complete disregard for their choices, their desires, needs to end. I don't have a lot of time left but if I did, I could go on about a lot of things. The rising hatred towards Muslims. Bigotry towards homosexuality. Mental, emotional and physical abuse of a child. But then again, if you look at the policies and laws regarding child abuse in India, it's almost like child abuse doesn't even exist. So this brings us to one question. Why? What is the cause behind all these atrocities? The answer is simple- our mentality. Not us as in us (or atleast I hope not) but us as in our entire society. We see someone deviating from the norm, and we automatically tend to judge them. We see someone not fitting in with our view of the world, we label them as freaks. But I now ask youWho are you to tell that girl over there that all she's good for is being a trophy in someone's house? Who are you to tell those boys that their love is wrong? Who are you to believe he won't succeed in life simply because he's got tattoos and a piercing? Who are you to judge her just because her skirt is shorter than your standards? Who are you to tell that little boy he can't cry because crying is for women? Who are you to interfere in anyone's life but your own? Let me tell you who you are. You are No one.
- Aditi Kaushik
Seven Minus One
Before I tell you how my topic not only questions your mindset, but also challenges your moral values and beliefs, I would like to tell you a story I read on tumblr. Basically it was posted by a Disney fan requesting for a gay Disney prince. So, once upon a time not long ago, there was a prince. He was about nine years old and was going to a new school. One day, one of his classmates asked him, “Are you Gay?” The prince did not know what it meant, but in an impulse he said yes. “Oh! Does it mean a half boy and a half girl.” “What? No! I am a BOY.” The prince answered, which actually was true. He was a cisgendered boy. When I was reading this story, I realized that many people, even in our school don't know the difference between SEXUAL ORIENTATION and GENDER. SEXUAL ORIENTATION. noun: A person's sexual identity in relation to the gender to which they are attracted to. GENDER. noun: A socially constructed definition to differentiate between two people, also used to denote a large number of identities who do not correspond to the established ideas of MALE and FEMALE. Now, why have I chosen 'Seven Minus One' as my title? There are seven colours in a rainbow. If you remove the sky blue, it becomes the colours of Pride. Pride on the whole LGBTQQIAAP community. Pride that they are sharing their stories with the world, so that it could become a better place. Pride on people being themselves unapologetically. After the whole incident, rumours about the prince spread in the town like a forest fire and followed him till he passed middle school. Once, in fifth grade, some students in his classroom wrote G-A-Y on his locker. And one time, a person spat on him when he was in eighth grade. In ninth grade, when he got into High School, he realized his attraction towards boys. Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code introduced in 1861 during the British Rule makes any kind of homosexual sex between adults illegal because it is considered 'against the order of nature.' That is incorrect. A recent scientific study proves that a person's sexual orientation is a complex interplay of genes and environment. It is not genetic as it is not passed down by your parents. It actually is a result of human evolution. Nature finds a way on its own to save herself. Considering the fact that the population of the Earth is more than ever, it was inevitable, as most of the same sex couples do not have any children, or adopt one. Fortunately the Section 377 has been ruled out in 2018 as it was unethical; however homophobia still is a prevailing issue in India. When he changed his school, he thought that the rumours would stop. But they didn't. Another student in his school called him gay in order to insult that prince. He got offended, but that day he wondered, why does he look 'Gay'? What makes a person 'Gay Enough'? Was it his face, or his voice, or rather his personality? Or maybe all this things intertwined together in a perfect ratio to make him look 'Gay'. He did not know. It has been proven that our body structure can tell a lot about a person's sexual orientation. There is even a machine created that can identify it ninety per cent of the time. Many people blame that homoerotic behaviour is a 'Western Mindset'. In reality, 'Homophobia' is a 'Western Mindset', not Homosexuality. Before the British Raj, homosexuality was widely acceptable in Hinduism. Many Hindu Gods have shown some kind of homosexual behaviour. Even the Ardhanarishvara of Shiva and Parvati shows acceptance towards the LGBT+ community. Kamasutra, the largest book written about sex has a full chapter dedicated to homosexuality. The Khajuraho temple in India, widely known for architectural symbolism and erotic sculptures, also contains sculptures where two same sex couples are having sex. The Britishers left India, but left behind homophobia, which led to a lot of crimes against them. The prince started having self harming thoughts and stayed in the closet for a long time. He did tell a few friends about it, but not his parents as it could lead to a stain on his family's reputation. It is so sad that millions of people are not open to the idea of homosexuality and consider it a punishable offence. It is almost impossible to end homophobia from the world. Even if you think that it does not seem right, you could respect them. The prince just needed some love, acceptance and some respect. That's it.
-Prateek Sachdeva
These were both written by seniors in my school and there are some references to Indian culture that you may not understand so you can skip that part. Thank you for reading.
