M.E.N MANIA

M.E.N. MANIA

Marginally. Endangered. Neanderthals.

?

TING! Caught your attention, didn’t it? The world has alienated us into two genders, need I specify which? Well until a few years ago, until we gathered some courtesy and realized, “Oh hey! There’s LGBTQ+ too”. That discussion is, however, for another day. MEN v/s WOMEN or MARS v/s PLUTO or if you ask me CRAZY v/s CRAZY! Yeah, you read it right. The endless ranting on how women ought to be treated better and how we need empowerment and how men should transform & recognize and how mountains should be higher, the river deeper and horizon farther! Yet as the existence passes another day, the clocks tick and a new dawn breaks, the NEWS has me realize that words were again put to waste and feelings in dearth and yet another life put to (un)rest.

?

SUSCEPTIBILITY

So women need empowerment? Pour quoi monsieur et madame? Aren’t we capable of respecting ourselves enough to save us from being victimized? Isn’t self-victimizing an insult to female proficiency? This view however has nothing to do in RAPE cases which are the epitome of disgust and female vulnerability, the point where our souls shatter. Again, a topic for another time..

“Nobody is superior, nobody is inferior but nobody is equal either. People are simply unique, and incomparable. You are you, I am I.”

– OSHO

?

MEN OF QUALITY RESPECT EQUALITY

FEMINISTS say what we need is equality. Ouch! The term itself is so misunderstood that a woman shies from being one, and denies it too.?Hmmm.. but c’est true. Let’s just term it ‘CEREBRAL Equality’ for this write-up. As the definition goes, the right to every opportunity in every field. Ah! Haven’t we all read it or heard it before? We are strong and capable beings of achieving everything we desire. Despite so many talks in favor of women, our society is rampant with crimes, bias, and stories day after day about inequality in every field.

Yes, INEQUALITY of any gender. Do only women suffer? Rescue missions of one gender also account for inequality among others. Should we not do it, bloody hell we should. But, I take pleasure in belonging to this generation, to the millennial, the rational ones, and cheers to us path-breakers or perhaps the novel path carvers, to the misfits that don’t follow the rules or abide by the societal law and who by doing so take us further towards sanity and brand us humanely, something we should be by default.

Nevertheless it makes me notice that habitually we disregard the menfolk. Attempt to recollect what you read the entire day and not one article will pop up in your head that says anything remotely close about empowering men or otherwise. Should we not, pat comes the reply, “No we shan’t”.

25% PREVAILING – 50% MISCONSTRUED

75% UNDERMINED and 100% IGNORED

Do men just fight their battles only when their armor is on at the border? Aren’t they fighting our battles too? Ever stop to wonder who has a choice – to work or not to work/ or as one of Shakespeare’s own, Prince Hamlet quoted, “To be. Or not to be, that is the question”.

The era-long debate that you have the right to choose to be a homemaker or a working lady actually comes from the power of the man in your life (father/brother/husband / Earner) who finances that choice. Of course, it’s our choice, but how would it be only ours? Why don’t we acknowledge that liberty is ours at a man’s disposal of none?

In a shocking revelation, a government-commissioned survey has found that more than 53% of children (irrespective of gender) in India are subjected to sexual abuse but do not report the assault. Our society is almost unanimous in its opinion that, “men can’t get raped”. Sexual violence against men is still a concept that hasn’t found many takers. This is when disbelief replaces empathy. The survivors get little compassion from family and friends. A lot depends on the mindset. That men can be vulnerable and can undergo physical and psychological trauma should be acknowledged. It has been a long since no one has challenged social constructs that stereotype men and cast them away as ‘bad’.

Have we ever asked the men in our family do they need a break? And whilst they do, we offer that we shall bank it up for them? “A man should never stay idle”, echoes the words of elders, of some biased voices but are you telling me that of over 7Bn+ people of the world, ALL Men are born to follow the same galactic path? Hell No! “You’re the man of the house, you have to earn bread for everyone in the family”, “Be a man and buckle up”, and “Why do you need a broken man?"?Aww, are you gonna cry like a girl now”, “Itna Kyun senti, is it that time of the month for you dude?” And endless sharp but daunting pokes that make men prepared so they have no choice but to slave. Yet James Bond commissions, Ethan Hunt goes on to mission after mission proving they aren’t so impossible after all, Arthur Fleck does the Joker hat and Thanos takes it upon himself to bring balance in the universe.

Perhaps time to perceive GENDER on a SPECTRUM.

?

ABOMINATION

Certain portions of our culture are female-dominated, where there is blatant animosity towards fighting sexism – either because men are not deemed fit after owning as they say a male dominant society or because women simply don’t care about a man’s take on this issue. A little botheration comes from the term I simply detest is ALIMONY! Dowry is frowned upon and if we are independent women why do we belittle ourselves by demanding alimony as the cash safety net during divorce proceedings? Do not mistake child care with it, it must be handled by both parents but in recent times there have been scenarios where women hide their working status simply to extract a little more from the X(ex)-Men! Is that empowerment? No it’s disempowering the man. In fact, we just made ourselves the bechaari! Are we bechaaris, the abla naaris? Nobody dares say that to ME, we’re the ABLE-naaris! The man in question is forced to follow because well he is a man and he has to! What about his rights? Or the fact that he might not be that economically sound to do so? Women desire a mental match in their partners as their spouses but a given criterion is they must be well settled financially. Why a compulsive requirement? Didn’t we just downgrade ourselves by asking a man to be earning more than us? From my perception, we just lost our in abate ability to show what we as an individual are capable of and that’s conquering the world if we have to. Also, he might be a ravishing being with little less economic stability than you but you are willing to let go of that chance of a promising future with you and keep you happy despite it. Didn’t we learn happiness does not lie in the materialism of the world? On Rakshabandhan, the brother who literally keeps aside a bundle of cash from his savings every year for all of his dozen sisters can do with a gift from them too, think about that?

?Is there an agency that stands for men in these times, hardly I believe. It would go off the mark to even discuss such a point now in today’s scenario, wouldn’t it?

?

?

INDIVIDUALITY

WHILE OVERT DISCRIMINATION IS DIRECT AND OFTEN INTENTIONAL, COVERT DISCRIMINATION IS SUBTLE AND MAYBE UNINTENTIONAL

Discrimination occurs towards men who wish to exercise their choice of life, my friends from LGBTQ+ are far from above chaos. Do we bother to understand how these men fight their daily battles? Are we women capable of accepting them as they are?

?If we aren’t then do we not recognize that some disparity exists in this very thought process and that only us needing aid in this whole wide world are a bit biased? Am I denying acknowledgment of women’s issues? NEVER! I simply am attempting to flicker a spark in that grey cell that might be one-track-minded!

A woman’s womb holds the power of life worth worshiping but don’t stop to think a man is needed to create one too. There is no pain they say like that of birthing, undeniably so. A little consideration maybe if you hit a man in his sack! Open the eyes to the possibility that not all men are the same just like all women are not victims.

A true gentleman is one who leaves his seat in public transport for a woman. Woah! Woah! Woah woman! Since when do we women who are considered ‘tyaag ki devis’ (not fond of the term) started expecting this? If he does so, yes very gentlemanly. But what if he has an issue you do not know of? Or is simply tired beyond comprehension? Or here’s the truth, he has a right to sit too! If we can have a whole compartment or seats dedicated and marked to us, can we not give a judgemental look to a man who is simply sitting in a common one?

?

GIRLS AND WOMEN ARE MOST VICTIMISED IN SOCIETIES WHERE BOYS AND MEN ARE DISEMPOWERED (inspired)

Heartbreaks are common but we glorify the pain only for women. Stop to notice the magnificent men who stand by us and support the whole shebang more than we can recognize. Please don’t start partaking in MEN EMPOWERMENT #Hashtags on social platforms because that’s just convenient, how about we amend subtly at home? Commence with our circle and see the radical change transpire. Do they need us to stand for them; I don’t think so, just start accepting them for what they are too above and beyond the crisis and it shalt materialize.

On a concluding note, stop idolizing men, it helps no one; it only becomes a statue of worship with little or no devotion or deference.

Dedicated to all the undeterred and gallant men in my life and around me… Thank you! Oodles to still learn from you!!!