Just a Woman

#41 by aisha_sarwari on May 30, 2007 5:23am PT

Is it something ur prophet whose desires wre absorbed by an under-age tot by name Aisha?

[[38 by khamy1 on May 30, 2007 5:05am PT
...it`s funny to see chowk publishing the said article depicting the everyday harassment of a female in pakistan whie women are insulted, called dirtiest na,es on a daily basis on chowk and no one gives a damn untill the reciver of the sexual insults is chowk`s ex editor who took a longer than expected hiatus for unknown reasons and has not been since...thank god for]]]]

khamkhwa sahib

Look who`s talking?
And what about yourself? How can you criticise others when you are yourself champion and king of harrasment for me and for Farzana Versey?

You are #1 abuser and sucker of this site.

You are always on un plugged to harrass me with your abusive gaalis......

Now go back to un plugged and start same harrassment for me.

Calling me with differnt abusive names, calling Farzana Versey with the highest gaalis possible, here on chowk and then on desibukbuk.com.........that is the way your life revolves.......

Even though I requested you million times politely to stop cyber harrasing me on chowk( unfortunately which you have been doing for the last few years) and will continue to do so........you come up with same shamelessness and do not stop.


So, since you have started this discussion here(Thanks to Aisha`s boldness), why not start from you?

Mr.khamhwa

When will you stop harrasing me?

Aisha,

Anti-women is different from anit-feminism. Gandhi was not anti-women like ur closet mullah & mullis (JH babes).

Aisha

As Shandana said registering a protest is sometimes the best thing to do. My friends big sister was going to Sadiqabad on a bus with her mum when this moron sitting behind them kept trying to touch her through the seat, when she told aunty, auntyji kicked up a fuss `tere kaar ma pehn nai eh?` sort of stuff, everyone else beat the guy up and threw him off the bus...

its amazing how other men beat these guys up when a women raises her voice but dont say anything otherwise... those men should be shamed publicly by the girl and watch how all the other guys beat them up!!!

Yasser,

>>English professors from India<<

That`s a wrong expression. It should always be `Professor of English from India` because English also connote ethnicity. This is the most common mistake committed even by teachers who teach English in India (No ENGLISH teacher, btw).

We may accpet these phrases under Indianisms.............

Gandhi in The Handmaid’s Tale
Aisha Sarwari
October 4, 2005


Gandhi’s Anti-Feminist opinions

“My idea is to get these women to spin yarn.” MK Gandhi

I’m glad that no woman leader, at least not of international stature, has awarded their inspiration to M.K Gandhi known to the devout as The Mahatma, for it is because of these saintly Ayatollahs that women are not at the top of world affairs.

Saintly men are the most irresponsible of talkers, the most skilled illusionists. Even years after his death, Gandhi looms on San Francisco’s pier 42 as a statue of truth, sponsored by Pepsi Co. He is known to the world as a leader of the independence movement of India. He’s known as a frail man who led thousands to fight the British using the original method of non-violence. He’s a great story, but out of all his unpalatable myths I find the one about his “emancipator of women” most offensive.

Gandhi was the embodiment of traditionalism, religion and patriarchy all rolled into one. I say if you want to confine a woman, give her the role of cooking, label it sacred and her indispensable from the skill of its preparation and Viola! - There you have a society where men can reign supreme. This is of course my personal opinion but I am sure no non-chef woman will appreciate that Gandhi describes cooking as an obligation that all women must fulfill. Describing Hindu festivities he says, “The ladies are making preparations for the approaching grand day, by cooking and baking sweets, cakes, etc., for, in India, women of the highest class would not mind cooking. In fact, it is an accomplishment which every lady is supposed to possess.” (1)

Excuse my pettiness. I personally detest cooking as a women-only job. But I also find men referring to their likes and dislikes using women as a standard of honor, in extreme bad taste. An impartial reading of The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi has references of women being compared to methods of taxation, to market forces and to political systems.

So ingrained in his mind was the concept of the “fallen woman” as a woman who uses her sexuality by choice, that he talked of the concept with international correspondents during interviews. He says, “The condition of England at present is pitiable. I pray to God that India may never be in that plight. That which you consider to be the Mother of Parliaments is like a sterile woman and a prostitute. Both these are harsh terms, but exactly fit the case.” (2)

Margret Atwood novel, The Handmaids’s Tale, talks of a dystopia in a world without feminism. In it she outlines the most distinguishing feature of a totalitarian patriarchy to be an obsession with a woman’s ovaries to be viable. These societies want babies for the purpose of indoctrination and control. It is perhaps for this reason that Gandhi got a respectable member ousted from the London Vegetarian society, because he was advocating for birth control.

Gandhi continued about the British system of the time: “That Parliament has not yet, of its own accord, done a single good thing. Hence I have compared it to a sterile woman. The natural condition of that Parliament is such that, without outside pressure, it can do nothing. It is like a prostitute because it is under the control of ministers who change from time to time. Today it is under Mr. Asquith, tomorrow it may be under Mr. Balfour.” (3)

The second most defining characteristic from Atwood’s novel was the concept of anarchy resulting from a woman’s choice to select a partner for sex, because it puts pressure on men to compete for women, by bring to par their standards for women, rather than the other way round. Using Islamic Feminist, Fatima Mernessi’s argument- how chauvinists chose to deal with the fear was to debase a prostitute and define her in the most sinful state that the divine’s wrath is on.

Gandhi’s general opinion about women was very low. Not only did he objectify women by using statements that call to “cling to the old Indian civilization even as a child clings to the mother`s breast,” he shed all egalitarianism and insisted that “the care of children and the upkeep of the house is quiet enough to fully engage her energy.” (4)

When speaking of women Gandhi was often patronizing and authoritarian. To Gandhi the “good Indian woman” was epitomized by Sita, Draupadi, and Damyanti.

He’s often quoted saying that women made “too much noise,” that they didn’t observe “purdah,” nor did they know how to assemble near him with propriety. It is “difficult to “interest them in everyday topics,” because of their “extravagant and hypocritical” nature. They always, “gossip and are too found of their jewelry to part with it.” Women, he said don’t have organizational skills and must be “guided” by men. (5)

Another defining symbolism that the people in Atwood’s novel took to was “veiling” and propriety. Talking was prohibited, and possession of personal assets was treated a crime as bad as sedition. Of course in Gilerd, Atwood’s fictional account of the state, men were in charge of women.

However, Gandhi was a clever man, for every crude comment against women, he had 10 that supported women to go out and campaign, suggesting empowerment.

Gandhi prompted women to “defy” their husbands if they have to and step outside the house in the greater national movement, because women had natural “traits” and a “traditional role” which they could use in the great “battle to gain access in the temples of the untouchables whose numbers were needed. (6)

To get to the bottom of it, Gandhi’s double standard in the case of his wife’s political activism against the Marriage Act of 1913 in South Africa is telling.

After calling women to disobey for the cause, Gandhi was later apprehensive. When Kasturba, his wife led women against the Act, he said he “lacked confidence” in her abilities. He clarified, “If at the last moment they flinched, their prominence might seriously damage the cause they sought to advance. (7)

It was finally decided to let the “ladies” proceed with their plan but under no circumstance were they to divulge their names until they were “safely” in jail. Thus their men could be “saved from embarrassment if the women failed.” (8)

After they returned from jail, Gandhi urged them to be the same “patient and dutiful women that India has produced for centuries.” (9)

The Handmaid’s Tale, the centeral character, Offerd, was expected to be “patient and dutiful” moreover, she was forbidden to work/slave outside her household, though it may have been perfectly ok for her to do so inside. Similarly, Gandhi’s ideal society was unlike the European society, which he called an irreligious society:

“This civilization is irreligion, and it has taken such a hold on the people in Europe who are in it appear to be half mad. They lack real physical strength or courage. They keep up their energy by intoxication. They can hardly be happy in solitude. Women, who should be the queens of households, wander in the streets or they slave away in factories. For the sake of a pittance, half a million women in England alone are labouring under in factories or similar institutions. This awful fact is one of the causes of the daily growing suffragette movement.”

This statement also shows a clear lack of comprehension of the processes that a society must follow to develop and allocate resources equitably.

Some may argue that Gandhi’s personal character should be reviewed rather than his flawed statements. Fair enough: Shall we move on to how he treated his wife?

First of all, he didn’t think he needed her input on his vow of celibacy or the decision to have no more children. Certainly, even women from that era would not settle for an agreement so skewed in power. “It became my conviction that procreation and the consequent care of children were inconsistent with public service.” (10)

He had a lifelong conviction that most religious clergy have. That women were sexual beings, that they tempted, that men lusted when they saw them and that they were an indulging temptation that were diametrically opposed to a God that demanded suffering and extreme self-control.

“To be fair to my wife, I must say that she was never the temptress. It was therefore the easiest thing for me to take the vow of brahmacharya , if only I willed it.” (11)

It surprises me to no end, that MK. Gandhi is praised for spirituality but he never understood its basic fact that, the soul is developed only though interaction with the material, and not in isolation of it.

“The other thing which is equally harmful is sexual vice. Both are poison. A snake-bite is a lesser poison than these two, because the former merely destroys the body but the latter destroy body, mind and soul.” (12)

Gandhi was a carnal being, who instead of committing to self-improvement, decided to Band Aid his jealous boyfriend issues though religion, and also gaining some international fame as a result. He’s probably the only global figure who commands awe and respect dispite doing his own plumbing and not having sex for ages.

“I had absolutely no reason to suspect my wife`s fidelity, but jealousy does not wait for reasons. I must needs be for ever on the look-out regarding her movements, and therefore she could not go anywhere without my permission. I wanted to make my wife an ideal wife. My ambition was to make her live a pure life.” (13)

The idea of women’s independence was not acceptable to Gandhi, says also Anup Taneja who researched the topic, unlike my opinion piece here. The question to ask is if the world can afford to accept an icon who rejected half of humanity’s values, and was willing to lock them up in the four walls of “evil traditions.”

Re: # 6

Gandhi would obviously not have such carnal desires to one-up on women because he keeps perversion in the family, the nieces absorb his desires so then he can appear in parking lots as a clean guy who supports women`s suffrage movement.

Gandhi:

This is why I am not in favor of giving Muslims equal rights. They tease me and I find it very uncomfortable despite the salt enemas administered in me every morning by the ashram staff.

A few moments ago, I was walking up the stairs from Mountbatten`s living room, late for a personal high-level meeting with my nieces, shoving my stick ahead of my ancient knees, while two Muslims who appeared to have camaraderie with each other were coming down. As they possessed me, the uglier guy with glasses greeted me with Assalamualaikum, App keysey hain Bapu!``

I was used to the cow eating, the talk of equality, the humming of Allama Iqbal songs or even a religious proclamation of how great God is, this sort of thing, however had me stop and take notice. I asked for a clarification from the Muslaman, and he went on to make generally trivial chit-chat about how my friend Nehru was upstairs doing it with Edwina.

Understanding full well that Muslamans thrive on Hindu passivity, I learned to give in to my indignity and forgo the fight of telling random Muslims off. Sometimes even when I want to fight back, their timing is too perfect and their precision that of a seasoned actor on Broadaway. Before I can feel the stab of inferiority and their power to communicate a stark message, they are gone, under the folds of a society that is so sickly corrupted by all this talk of separate electorates. Everyday it is a battle, but I trivialize the over-muslimization of a grossly mixed society whose religion doesn`t believe in a Hindu dominance over Muslims. It’s nothing, I say, not worth it. But the truth is its very bloody and it wounds me each time and it leaves its mark every time it happens.

So this time, I fought back. I called for two British guards who were guarding Mountbatten`s palace. New at their job, they refused to budge because they didn’t have “orders” to move from the spot that both of them were designated on to stand. I couldn’t believe it. This was no time for colonialism. Exasperated from all the hunger strikes, but still somewhat in control, I let the Muslim flee. I walked up to the guards and told them if they slapped me I would turn the other cheek. I could hear myself becoming a whiny powerless nagging old man and I realized then that this was my true calling.

By then enough Hindu men, old men, young men, men with Bhramin values, men who believe our religious values need protection had gathered to catch the “honor-less” folk. They asked me to identify the Muslim. I found myself increasingly being part of a large Mahabharat drama – I loved this too.

i was walking behind a middle aged man and his son in a park in karachi the other day. the kid must have been about eight or nine, and they were discussing the physical merits and demerits of the women who passed them. the kid would make a comment, the father would praise him if he thought it was graphic enough or gently correct him and add to it if he felt it was weak. they were walking quite slowly, but since my ears were already burning and their idiocy was doing for my heartrate what jogging only aspires to do, i adjusted my pace and stayed behind them till they left.

does this only happen in pakistan? in america last month a man came up to me on the street and said `shall i compare thee to a summers day?`. at a security checkpoint a guard held out his tray and said `belt, keys, phone number`.

over the years i have learnt that the best way to avoid men practising their lines on you is to look really pissed off, like super `i`m going to chop off your testicles and make kapuras` pissed off. the only completely effective way to avoid men practising their lines on you is to die.

i am working on a slightly less permanent alternative.

people who are attacking the author about typos and grammar...why? there have been lots of other articles on fp with poor editing, why no super focus on those?

aisha,

........ the first thing that strikes you when you land in pakistan is the relative absence of women in public and the unblinking stares of men focussed on the few brave souls who dare to venture out ........... as somone said earlier, this sexual frustration is the result of the segregation of sexes at a very young age ........ i have noticed a marked difference in attitude between my nephews who go to co-ed schools and those who go to all boys schools - the boys who go to co-ed schools tend to be more comfortable, polite and `civilized` around women ........ i feel sorry for the poor boys who grow up thinking that women are beings from another planet - they tend to behave like uncouth `dangars` ..........

....... next time use mace instead of relying on the guards ........

...it`s funny to see chowk publishing the said article depicting the everyday harassment of a female in pakistan whie women are insulted, called dirtiest na,es on a daily basis on chowk and no one gives a damn untill the reciver of the sexual insults is chowk`s ex editor who took a longer than expected hiatus for unknown reasons and has not been since...thank god for small mercies...the champions of chowk in the art of hurting, insulting and abusing females are: drum roll please... zeemax, the defender of the faith and salim chauhan, the chameleon...but chowk thinks it`s kosher then it must be...

Re: # 23

bj,

....... that was really funny ! ......... enjoyed it (as always)...... please feel free to post all the homoerotic pictures you want - you have redeemed yourself (again) !

http://blanknoiseproject.blogspot.com/
This is an org in India dedicated to empowering women and educating men about eve teasing.
It has done good work in recent years.
As Shandana has said, raising a voice through all means possible is a part of the solution.
Aisha, if you dont mind, do submit your writeup to the Blank Noise Project as well.
Thanks.

#23 bjkumar

OUCH! OUCH! OUCH!

Indeed!!

Its a nice article highlighting as to what actually we as a women living in society like ours have to face.

But the thing is what is the solution to this problem??

Is there any solution at all???

revolutionization of the patriarchal mindset is the only way out, i guess.

Yaraan, I was not trying to distract from the seriousness of the issue at hand, just thought a bit of humor will do us good - at Yasser`s expense, too (hey, what are the ``worse half``s for?!)

Dear HP,

I am reasonably sure that self styled English professors from India like Alephnull can probably not utter a single sentence in the English language without making an utter fool of themselves (and when they do survive that it is usually because the accent is so utterly incomprehensible to the other person) ... hence the anal retentiveness when it comes to grammar... it is a deep-rooted colonial complex really or maybe something even deeper, a sense of insecurity because this fellow often boasts about ``backpacking through Europe``. The primary purpose of language is communication and as far as communication goes the article has made its points well.

On another thought, there may be a case for Alephnull to go and correct the homies when they say ``it don`t`` instead of ``it doesn`t``... but there I suspect, A`null has complexes of another kind.