Feminism in future.

My apologies to Art navy. She wanted me to give my opinion on feminism. I’ve already given my serious opinion regarding this. Now I feel like doing a satire. It was not meant to be so but I ended up writing it all the same. Please bear with me.

Feminism according to me means mutual respect between men and women. But with mankind planning to do away with the female species I tried to imagine what the scenario would be some 50 years from now. I’ve let my imagination run wild but I assure you that I want to start a thought process in our society. I know that readers of this blog are educated, thinking, responsible adults. They may definitely not support the suppression or subjugation of women. I only want them to ponder over what else they may do to bring about a proper balance of masculine and feminine energies. I acknowledge that the idea for this piece came from a skit presented by a local college in a seminar hosted by our college and conducted by an NGO group. I have just expanded upon the idea conveyed by them.

Some fifty years from now the scene in a small township like ours may be something like this-

The male/female ratio has fallen and there are only 520 girls for 1000 boys as per the latest census.

Agencies have cropped up to help eligible bachelors to choose a good girl - I am sorry I meant, to choose a girl. The government has claimed that all girls were good and any one seeking to discriminate them on the basis of color, looks or any other objectionable parameters would be jailed, fined or both.

Pre – natal Sex testing is legalized and women carrying a female child to be treated as national treasures and living fossils. This is because constant and continuous destruction of female fetuses has resulted in the application an evolutionary trend ‘survival of the fittest’ at the fetal level. Therefore, it was found, after elaborate scientific research that the female children born after so much socio - medical onslaught, were far superior to their male counterparts that each one was an Indira Gandhi or Rani Lakshmibai in the making.

Quoting the example of Draupadi in Mahabharat, the Center had requested parents to get their daughters married to five men. However, women groups turned down the suggestion and requested the government to stop acting silly. They, in turn, quoted from the Ramayan that advocated monogamy and claimed that attending to one husband was bad enough and dealing with five was out of question.

The dowry demands of parents of girls were increasing by the day and it was hard to get an eligible spinster for a decent dowry. Parents of boys drawing a six digit salary offered to pledge half their son’s salary to the girl’s father and undertook to share their medical expenses as well.

Mothers of boys offered to baby sit and help out in the kitchen. They advised their sons to be patient with their wives. “She may ask for a divorce and a divorced husband will be looked down by society. And no other girl will be willing to marry you. It is in your interest to put with the nonsense that is meted out to you. After all she is a woman and has the upper hand”.

The birth of a girl child is celebrated with pomp and show while that of a boy is a hushed affair. Boys are trained to help in household chores and mothers claim that it will come handy when he gets married. Years of subjugation have made men docile and men’s groups have secret meetings in underground cellars to explore means to overcome the problem and infuse some courage into their system.

Well let me not go further. I feel tempted to continue. But there is a limit to which satire can be carried. I don’t think that the suppression of feminine or masculine energy would be good for any society. Both have a role to play and feminism in its truest form will enable the two to compliment each other. I can only hope that this is realized soon before more damage is done.