The passionate appeal of the LoP, on smashing the patriarchy took me back to Simon De Beauvoir’s famous line in her book Second Sex: ” One is not born, rather becomes a woman”. This post is detached from the call to young women of India to smash the patriarchy. Connecting the two dots, one , the call for action given in a democratic country in 2026, and the other, an observation from the leading voice on feminism in late 1940s. Good 120 years later, what has changed?
Let’s run through some facts. World Economic Forum started the global gender gap survey in the year 2006. The annual survey has since covered four key aspects: health, education, economic participation and opportunity, and political empowerment. 100 plus countries have participated in this survey since its inception. It relies on publicly available data on its key indicators in each country. Gender parity be definition here includes, equal opportunities to health, education, participation in economy and political representation. Reportedly we have globally plugged 67% of gender gap so far on these parameters and 100% gender parity can take place by the year 2158 (good 130 plus years to go). This seems far away in the future. Meanwhile the question of patriarchy and its power to curb the aspirations of women in general, and young women in particular hangs in the air.
Though I stay conflicted on whether addressing the women alone shall fix the situation. Is smashing the patriarchy just about how woman get opportunities and how they are viewed in the popular discourse? What’s the whole point of challenging the patriarchy being at the receiving end of the institution? Can the political intent cut through subtle layers of gender based prejudice? And what’s brewing in the communities? It takes no survey to find out that young women are declining to marry. Rebellion of sorts? Smashing the patriarchy? Not marrying is not having to take charge of running a household, not having to birth babies, and not putting up with everything that goes with it.
Women alone can’t smash the patriarchy. The same patriarchy has put a stifling role boundary around men. To earn, to provide and to protect. Shall we do something about that too? the same familial and social apparatus that makes a woman out out of a human being; also ruthlessly makes a man out of another. It happens simultaneously in families, and in society. Demonising both woman who defy the iron cast role boundaries; and men who under perform on equally rigid role expectations is equally wrong and unjust. That’s why more popular cinema like Ka&Ki is needed. Shattering the stereotype, letting both women and men breathe in company of each other; remaining just human beings. Can law fix it? Can women alone fix it? Questions, and more questions, debates and reflections in families, and communities might just set the stage for slightest of change to take place.