The Exploitation of the Women

The idea behind the women not entering the temple during their menses was to protect them from wild animals and give them some rest from daily routine. This was indeed a great step towards the upliftment of women from her miserable condition. Why I have used the word ‘Miserable’, soon we may know that, In true means, this was not a step to help or protect the women, it was used as a tool to dominate her, to rule over her in all possible means. The rule was enforced on them so that the man can show his superiority.

In the primitive world, when the mankind was not aware of their sexes, there was no discrimination among the men and women. The men and women all had the equal stand, and there was no formation of any society and thus no rules and regulations. They were free to mate whomsoever they wanted. Sooner, the men realized that their bodies are much stronger than the bodies of women and can perform a more physical task as compared to them. They started observing the difference between their bodies and the bodies of the women. This discrimination gave rise to the formation of the psychology of being a male and a female. Another thing the man realized about himself was that he was unable to reproduce or cannot give birth to children. This created a lot of inferiority complex among men, which still lies in one of his deepest unconsciousness. The man is aware of the fact that the woman is more superior as they have the capability to reproduce. There is nothing higher than giving birth to life or expanding the human race. The man has a very small role to play in reproduction similar to a syringe injection. The man was aware of this fact and the only way to soothe his inferiority complex was to reduce the woman in all possible ways. This helped man to forget about his own inferiority and made himself believe that he is superior.

After the agricultural revolution, the man started taking possession of land and woman. The societies were formed, the religions came into existence and the cultures flourished. All the rules and regulations were against the woman which made sure that they were reduced to the second category of humanity, not good as men. In China during ancient times, the husband had a right to kill his wife as the woman was a private property of man. The husband was not punished as the woman was considered as his possession like a furniture. In India, for centuries, the females were considered as ‘Dasi’ or slaves and the husband as ‘Swami’ or the master. The females were not allowed by any culture to educate themselves, to move freely into society, and for centuries, she was denied showing her face in half of the world. There exists a ‘Sati Pratha’, where the wife must jump alive in her husband's funeral pyre. The woman had no existence of her own, no individuality and was just considered a mere shadow. The man was having so many insecurities that even after his death, he was not willing to release the woman from his clutches. The man in the past has never behaved humanly with women, has never shown his compassion, love and respect towards them. He has always acted like a criminal.

Many religions had denied the fact that a woman can liberate herself from the body of a woman. They must be reborn as men and then they can achieve the height of liberation. Many cultures deny this based on the fact that women have their monthly periods which signifies the symptom of sexuality. The woman cannot celibate and thus the liberation is not possible from the body of a woman. Nowadays, the pills are available which may stop the menstrual cycles for ever and do you think the woman can be liberated? How stupid is to even think about it? A blind man can attain the liberation, the dumb can, the man with no limbs can attain, then why not a woman? A woman can definitely attain the liberation because it is not the body which attains, it is the consciousness. There are many women such as Mallibai,Meera, Lalla and Rabiya who have attained liberation from the body of a woman.

Now the era has begun, where the woman has asserted her quality in every field. She has been doing better in education, finance, science and technology and in jobs. She is no less than a man in any field. But something weird is taking its own course. The women being repressed for thousands of years have shaped them into something unnatural. The harder you press the spring, the faster it will bounce back. In comparing herself with man, the woman has started imitating man, which shows a dark side of them.

But wait...wait....wait, let's throw some light on the dark side of the same thing and discover more about how the women's course has taken on a new shape in the next article,'The Women's Liberation Movement: A Wrong Turn.'

Until then stay tuned & read the previous part of this article ‘Impure Women, Menstrual Cycles and Temples’ if you haven’t. Thank You.

- Dr. Dhananjay Patel