The woman’s magazine

Woman…..

Thank fully the anguish of listening to women on women, specially Fulbright scholars , who have lived in Delhi and somewhere in uncle sam’s land, or those  intellectual, activists  who did their work on Indian women from Harvard has dulled, the headache of listen to woe’s of the woman, waiting to be rescued by a magical wand or wonder woman has also ceased.

Between all these, I major thing that has been bothering me, is who defines woman?

I mean, I am biologically a woman, my hormones would probably trigger some reactions, and a typical response to stimuli but were I to devoid of the social condition would I react the same?

Growing up I remembered my mother and friends glorifying a star student of the medical college who gave up her promising career as a surgeon because her being better than her husband caused marital discord.

Recently I heard, again my mother’s generation discussing, “Oh! Girls today do not adjust, they have the arrogance of being financially independent.” If you look at the prime time serial, this is a subtle refrain that they sing too. Woman, your place is in the house as a nurturer and leave the world conquest to the man.

I assumed this was the generation before me, where wives pretended to be less capable than their husbands.

But look at any serial, a woman focused on her career is reprimanded for not taking care of her child. Never mind that she has a low ambition spouse who looks after the child. Its like when a man focuses on his career its okay, he is a man, when a woman does it, she is mean, irresponsible, etc.

Just see the kind of clothes, jewellery the over emphasis on “woman” and solah singaar. Kudwah chaut, raksha bandhan all glorified where women are told that you are second class, Holi, and diwali where predators are out to snare the woman, so she has to be protected….

Parents sacrificing to get their daughter married, why the daughter being unmarried something one is ashamed of, as if the girl or her parents have failed? People don’t react so about their sons.  

The women’s magazine is no better,  more than 90% of the articles are focused on clothes, make-up, jewellery, food, oh! Yes those that believe in the complete woman, have agony aunt, parenting, health spirituality, coffee table topics and a stray article on time management or coping up with sexual harassment at workplace is seen.

Very very rarely do you have articles that deal with people who have really rise above the mundane, we could celebrate them as human beings first, and  then as women that would be a change

Still better the woman’s day, we could actually figure out what is that we the woman would like to read, see and hear. And design our magazine.

Do you know the saddest part most women’s magazines are headed by women who create their books for the “housewives,” ”behenji’s. ”