This Rakhi make a vow to respect every girl

Aditi Panda

As we are ushering rakhi on 7^th August, majority of boys must be mulling over bunking college on some pretext or other to avoid getting rakhis tied from girls who they are trying to woo. Actually this is a sweet gesture of saying NO to a boy’s proposal, Isnt it!

But many boys are unwilling to accept rejection easily and assume that the girl is bidding more time before accepting the proposal. The judgemental and biased mindset of our patriarchal society about a woman’s attire also makes them assume that a girl is available.

A girl’s individual preference to wear the attire of her choice should be respected even if she does snap the clichéd universal social norms set by the society. Agreed that sometimes girls do break the dress code, especially in the urban areas under the western influence and the myth of rejuvenation but then the question arises why are all girls made to put up with the assault, torture or victimization? Why are girls made to bear the brunt of things for no fault of theirs and are targeted to vile and malevolence?

‘If a girl denies your proposal you have to accept it with self-respect and revere. It is purely because we all have our own personal preferences and the right to say a yes or a no. But if you force yourself on the girl and pester the girl then it is clear that either your feelings are not genuine or you are chasing the girl to please your inflated male ego. Such relationships do not have a future’, says Manoranjan Sahoo working with a NGO that works for the rights of women and children.

At present the envelope of vile and venom is being pushed a little too far, indirectly glamorizing the gruesome and appalling which is creating a bad impact on the psyche of the youth. ‘Thanks to bollywood we have been romanticizing the notion that a girl’s no actually means a yes.

Perhaps for so many generations women have been conditioned to be subservient to men and to bury their own individuality. It will do us all good when we respect her opinion and that meaning when we respect her expression of life,’says Surbhi Sarna, a story educator, children’s writer, currently pursuing Psychology to help impart life skills to children.

The onus lies on all the players of this drama called society to play their part to perfection to assure that the crosshairs of hostility and cohesive negativism loose there mayhem on the minds of the men who are unwilling to accept a NO, as it hampers their dignity and crushes there ego.

Taking the cue from the movie Pink that received a lot of appreciation by the critics as it made a powerful statement on the existing feudal mindset of a majority of India, where men and women are judged by a different yardstick. Please be the CHANGE.

(Aditi is a freelance writer and pursues interest in the area of social issues)