Carrying forward from Akhila’s post today.
Why do stories of women characters in our mythology don’t usually have a happy ending? Why are their feelings regarded as shady and never consented?
Sita, Draupadi, Amba, Shurpnakha, Meera or even Radha for that matter had to endure hatred, humiliation, sadness, guilt, blame and/or a mysterious demise (all or parts of these) even after they loved with a pure heart.
Why does a woman have to be synonymous with sacrifice and prejudice? Why aren’t men put through any such kind of character assassination?
Lets be the change.
Yes! We need to stress on the fact that they were strong characters and had the guts to face the world. Every woman should have this quality.
Thanks for being here Veena.
now, reading your post i feel like, someone created all these characters, just to ensure that ‘she’ wear that cap of sacrifice always..
thanks for tagging me…
Someone had to take the blame, right? It is easier to pass the buck on someone seemingly vulnerable and yet make her compromise on everything.
You’re welcome Akhila. I liked your post. My pleasure. ☺
the some one could be the society who created all these gender inequalities.. even it could be a secret plan of a powerful brain in the history. who knows..
Right. I wonder when and how these inequalities arose. It isn’t just in our culture, it was more or less everywhere in the world. Did men sit and plot how submissive they could make their women? ????
hmm.. this is something which i ask myself a lot of time…even thought whether it was already decided before human originated….
Women and men had different responsibilities and developed their strengths over time due to the roles they played. Guess the bread-earner role gave some false sense of superiority to the male gender. They forgot to pay heed to the fact that they needed a warm and comfortable home to come back to.
if one could change atleast one’s own family’s perspectives on this, we are half through.. but it wont happen over a night’s time
Slowly but surely it can happen. We can let our kids interpret these stories in their own way. Like we are doing right now. We didn’t have these views when we first heard them. Let them grow and evolve freely.
Most mythological tales are taken from Ramayana, Mahabharat, Manusmriti and similar epics and look who authored them 🙂 🙂 so naturally they were more biased in favour of men plus the whatever men women equality we see today has happened only in recent past. so these authors were also guided by the then prevailing circumstances/social beliefs.
Our minds have been conditioned to believe in them. Not just men, women too believe that they have to play second fiddle to men. Sure these stories teach us a lot, but the inherent prejudice of that time needs to go now. It is high time we give women the credit they deserve.
True that ☺
Glad you agree. ☺
In ancient times on one hand women were subjected to prejudice and sacrifice, while on the other hand they were loved and worshipped.
Now times are changing , albeit slowly. I guess women do not want supremacy. All they ask is just equality and respect .
Exactly. Putting on a pedestal isn’t necessary. All women want is to be respected and treated as equals.
I guess the softer and emotional side of a woman is often taken as weakness and gives men the license to get away with their assumptions.
I somehow felt that it was because that was the only way women could be made submissive. None of these stories were written by a woman or from a woman’s perspective. I’m currently reading Rekha’s biography and it makes me wonder about all those stories and gossips about her that are floating around. Pity her.
True. Women haven’t been given the access to contribute anything to our scriptures. They’ve been made to accept societal rules based on them most of the time. It is truly unfair.
I would love to read Rekha’s autobiography too. Please give your feedback on it.
The roles might have changed from ancient times, but the scriptures are what we still read n preach so how do we accept the society to change… I remember one session of Sadguru where he called women “idiots” to try n go behind career n work, a woman should keep her sensitive side for harmony of the household n this world… N I am like… if today’s preacher are talking like this then it’s a losing battle we are trying to fight… Isn’t it?
It is like refusing to step out of a comfort zone for men, sadly even the learned ones. Chanakya hated women and felt they deserved to be treated in a less than respectful manner. What good can Arthashastra be if the guy had no arth of respect!
Losing battle, I slightly disagree. Yes, these people display the majority opinion but women have reached the moon now. We simply shouldn’t feel the need to flaunt ourselves like men do. It is a sign of desperation, not achievement.
True… Even i refuse to rise to any bait…let men and sometimes even women disrespect other women…
Agree … let the achievements do the talking than us shouting on top of our voices that we are equal n deserve respect. 🙂
Glad you agree. ????????????
Hehhehe… Check my post of today you will love it ????
Ya? Let me go see rightaway. ????????
Very true post!
1st reason can be: these stories were written by men…
2nd reason can be: society of that time considered men to portray a character of superiority…
But don’t you think there is something great also in these stories…
I don’t know much but I have also read some stories in which women are also depicted as the most powerful force on earth, have you ever heard the word “ardhanarishwar”? It is really interesting!