Sadia Rahman:
There is a tendency in this society to glorify the very existence of a women. They either glorify us or humiliate our every steps. Speaking of that a very powerful quotation has come in mind by the honorable Humayun Azad sir. What he said was something like, this society sees women either as a whore or as a virgin. Time has passed but the situation hasn’t changed a bit. But yes the pattern has evolved with time. It’s like the same shit in a new packaging.
Even in the books, in literature presentation of women are either strong, independent, ideal or just simply evil. Even in media, in all those movies,tele films- the presentation is the same too. What my point is, we are simply human beings- we are neither superior nor inferior.For that it is by nature that right-wrong, good-evil lie inside us simultaneously. But when in every sphere people keep idealizing women there comes the tendency of stereotyping. Whoever goes beyond that are considered “bad girl”, “disgrace” and obviously “whores”.
As a woman the idea of woman as powerful personality is more than just admirable. But what I am trying to imply is that if a person (intentionally avoiding the word woman) decides to act otherwise, chose a different path that deviates from the norm-there’s nothing wrong with that too. It is the tendency of idolizing that often leads to humiliation of women in stages. To a great extent the tendency of idolizing helps in sustaining patriarchy .As a human being rather than being a symbol of strength every one of them has the right to make mistakes too.
Let me put it this way, nothing is ideal-nobody is perfect. Everything has its pros and cons, individuals have their own set of flaws that make them human. Idealism is an idea, an imagination only. When Plato, the greatest philosopher couldn’t work out with his ideal world why do people expect women to be ideal always? Do they live on any Utopian world? Do they possess any magical powers? This example is not drawn to undermine any of them. It’s pointed out to bring your attention to the fact that no one is perfect and anyone can be wrong at any given circumstance, at any given point of time . This what the notion of ‘ideal’ is- a mere idea that strives to put a benchmark of excellence, a benchmark of moral standard. But any individual can slip at any point of time. Success and failures are just two sides of the coin.
So just give it a rest. Do not burden us with your idea of ‘ideal’. We are normal human beings. Just let us live like that. Let us have freedom of being right and the freedom making mistakes- we will learn along the way. Life is not a destination- it is a continuous journey after all.
Sadia Rahman is a final year student of English literature, Rajshahi University. Her passions include writing and debating. She participated in several National debate championships including BTV national debate championship. Completed H.S.C from Holy Cross college. She was member of student council in college. She has anchored in Baishakhi television several debate tournaments. Sadia is also a prolific writer and loves to share her views on issues concerning women.